Roommates
by thoughtless dreamer
Summary: POSSIBLY DISCONTINUED. No one said college was gonna be easy. But no one said how much better it'd be than high school. Unfortunately, highschool never ends in some ways, like when it comes to romance. In short, all hell is still gonna break loose. Zemyx, Akuroku, RiSo
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, but I do, however, have a (the absolute best, in fact) Zexy!!

Jessie: _**HAPPY ZEMXY DAY EVERYONE**__**! **_**Tosses confetti**

Joh: Finished?

Jessie: **Grins **For now, I am—that was my first matter of important business to finish. Alright, secondly: Yes, yes—I'm _am_ well aware that I'm doing a terribly horrible thing in creating yet _another_ multi chapter story when I already have two others, and requests to keep in mind. But honestly, this story has been in my head for many, many months. It begged me, and then it pleaded with me, and then it…it _made_ me, so…don't blame me, okay? …Please?

Joh: **Giggles** Oh, Jessie…I love you…and your excuses.

Jessie: …Right. In any case, this fic's for my Zexy, because she rocks, and I personally think that she's the best Zexion a Demyx could ever ask for.

Joh: _Awww_, Jessie that's so nice!

Jessie: **Smiles happily** Well, she deserves nothing less! There will also be points throughout this story where there are additional dedications to my friends for helping me think up certain parts to include in this storyline, but other than that this is to my Zexion, from her Demyx—and on Zemyx day, no less!

Yes, I _do_ feel smart.

Love you!

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▪▫ ∫**Prologue∫ ▫▪**

It's not unusual for those who come into our lives to ask either myself or Demyx just how exactly it came to be that the two of us became best friends – the both of us being quite blatantly on opposite sides of the social spectrum.

Firstly there's myself; the quiet, elusive, studious type. The one that, if one ever happens to find themselves searching for, can count on immediately being directed toward the library or the science labs. And if known not to be present in either of those places, strangely enough possibly toward the music hall on the rare occasion.

And then there's Demyx.

_Demyx_.

Demyx, always ready to be everyone's friend. Demyx, the self-proclaimed master sitarist of the school. Demyx, the champion of our school's swim team. Demyx, the star of all of our school's musicals.

Demyx, my crush of since-who-knows-when.

But enough of that—I think it's best to get back to the discussion at hand, no?

As I was saying, at first glance, no one would picture the two of us to be friends— best friends no less; or "the very bestest of friends," as Demyx prefers to so eloquently put it.

And as an explanation, you'll most likely to get the same automatic response from either of us—minus a very slight wording change, as well as a change in a name.

"It was because of Roxas' resentment," Demyx will giggle, and you'll most likely be able to pry the story out of him then.

"It was because of Riku's clumsiness," I'll reply simply, and refuse to elaborate further, thus saving the storytelling experience for Demyx.

But really—it _was_ Riku's fault; don't let Demyx convince you otherwise.

We met when the both of us were still mere elementary school students. Both the Nomura and Strife families had enrolled their children in the same school; Demyx and I had both been six at the time, the Strife twins four and Riku five.

I won't argue that Roxas had aggression issues when he was younger--and unfortunately still suffers with to this day. Honestly; if you manage to get on that boy's nerves (which admittedly isn't that hard a feat to accomplish), you will _not_ emerge completely unscathed.

It happened outside in the sandbox during recess one particularly beautiful day towards the end of the summer (albeit, that opinion may be slightly bias, taking into consideration how I consider that day to have been the best possible day I've ever experienced, as I happened to actually meet Demyx that day).

The twins, as I've been told, had been busy slaving away in their mission to build the best sand castle that ever was--however, with the consequential events, upon looking back we jokingly call it the Castle That _Never_ Was.

But I digress.

Within the first few days of Riku's starting kindergarten, I'd noticed that he had been somewhat longingly watching the slightly-younger Sora, internally battling with himself as whether or not to introduce himself to the young brunette.

It seemed as though he'd finally managed to gather up the courage to waltz up to the older twin that day at recess, for he marched right on up towards the sandbox where the four year old twins were playing--

--Tripped over an abandoned shovel,

--Stumbled forward only to trip once more; only this time, right over the edge of the sandbox,

--And fell directly on top of the sandcastle the siblings had been working on.

Now, the Strife twins' reactions varied to the extreme. Sora, naturally optimistic and a hazard to himself and those around him as his own clumsiness was so bad most of the time, burst out laughing gaily.

The change in Riku's expressions had been priceless; one moment he looked positively horror-stricken upon registering what he'd done, and the next he seemed to be caught somewhere between a sheepish smile and a scowl—smiling because it seemed that no_,_ he hadn't gotten on Sora's bad side, and scowling because if there was one thing that Riku detested more than anything, it was being laughed at or made fun of.

Unfortunately for Riku, not both of the twins were blessed with such a good nature—as he discovered when Roxas chose that very moment to demonstrate his displeasure with a none-too-gentle whack to the head with a plastic bucket.

Upon witnessing the unfolding events, I found myself forced to lay aside the book I had been reading to interfere with the inevitable fight, as I had the misfortune of having Riku as my younger brother.

It wasn't that I was worried about Riku being hurt—no, I was worried about little _Roxas_, as I knew from previous experiences that Riku didn't take well to being bullied and opted to fight back.

Just as I was picking myself up from the ground, I heard a panicked shout of "Roxas, _no!"_ from across the yard.

I didn't stop walking toward the sandbox at the alarmed cry, yet I glanced to the side to see who it was who'd yelled so openly—only to catch a glimpse of a boy who looked to be about my age rushing past me to my own destination.

I reached the sandbox not ten seconds after the boy himself had; but within that time the blonde had managed to unarm the aggravated Roxas, pull him aside and begun to scold him, as if he were familiar to the experience.

"Roxas, why'd ya hit that kid? You haven't even spoken to him before," the blonde reprimanded, sounding bewildered.

To my astonishment, Roxas neither hit nor screamed at the blonde, but merely rewarded the older blonde with an accomplished sulk.

"He bwoke ouw thandcathle," Roxas whined, pointed accusingly at the mound of sand where said castle undergoing his and his brother's construction had stood five minutes ago.

The new boy closed his eyes and sighed exasperatedly before kneeling down so that he was at the same level as the kindergartener.

"Well, I'm sure he didn't _mean_ to," he replied easily, ruffling the four year-old's already-messy hair.

It was at this time that I lost interest in the blondes' conversation, and chose to glance at Riku.

"Are you alright?" I asked quietly, gingerly touching the bump on Riku's head; pulling back and frowning slightly when he hissed in pain.

"'m _fine_," he growled, "it's that _kid_ who's not gonna be oka--"

"Um, I'm _weally_ sowwy 'bout my bwother hittin' you…he dun like new people vewy much," I heard from my side, and glanced down to see little Sora wringing his hands nervously and biting his lower lip as he gazed up with _the_ most accomplished puppy-dog eyes I'd ever seen at Riku (and by this point, I'm convinced that those puppy eyes are a characteristic trait of the Strife family).

To my amusement, my silver-haired brother appeared to melt somewhat at Sora's apology and immediately began stumbling over his own words to assure the sorrowful-looking brunette that he was fine, and that it didn't even hurt anymore (although there was a small tick in his left eye as he blatantly lied) and informed him that "my name is Riku, d'yawannaplay?"

Convinced that my brother was going to be fine, I turned my attention back to the two other blonds, who appeared to be wrapping up their conversation as I overheard what sounded like a last request from the older of the two.

"—and from now on, _please_ try not to hit anyone when you're angry, 'kay?"

Silence.

"Please, Roxas?"

More quiet.

"…For me?"

And finally, with that last desperate inquiry came a fairly affirmative-sounding mumble from the scowling four year-old boy, who proceeded to push the older boy's hand off his shoulder and stomp back to his spot in the sandbox.

I glanced at the older boy, who let out a relieved sigh at having been able to pry a possible consent from the stubborn child.

"How do you know Roxas?" I asked at last--and the boy gave a slight start as he glanced at me; only now seeming to register my presence. He blinked curiously at me, taking in my appearance before he answered.

"He's my cousin. I've gotta watch out for him," he replied with a helpless shrug, laughing lightly.

"How d'ya know Riku?" he asked upon answering my question.

"He's my younger brother," I replied, and raised an eyebrow at the look of rising horror on the boy's face.

"Oh--_oh!_ I'm really, _really_ sorry that Roxas hit him—I know, I should'a been watching him more carefully, 'cause I already knew that he doesn't get along very well with new people, but I didn't know he wasgonnahithimand--!"

"Honestly? Its fine—I should have seen it coming myself, knowing Riku's luck when it comes to meeting new people," I replied calmly, cutting him off from further apologies.

He opened his mouth to reply and shut it once more, breaking out into a relieved grin.

"'Kay, _sooo_…" he broke off, looking at me thoughtfully before smiling at me once more and sticking out his hand.

"Hey, I'm Demyx! What's your name?"

I glanced down at his hand before raising my eyes to his face, only fully taking in his appearance for the first time. His head was covered in dirty-blond tousled spikes, and he seemed to be growing out a mullet. He had a light complexion, but I thought that his most prominent feature had to be his eyes, as they were the most soulful, azure eyes I'd ever seen.

And at last I reached out and took his extended hand gently, before replying with

"Zexion Nomura."

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**▪▫ ∫Chapter One∫ ▫▪**

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It really was quite a lovely day; there wasn't a cloud in the robin's egg blue sky, the sun was shining its merriest, there was a comfortably warm breeze passing through the trees and the birds were singing.

However, all of this was lost to the somewhat aggravated teenager valiantly, albeit futilely, attempting to drag his best friend out of his house in the early hours of the morning. His dark ensemble, consisting of a black long-sleeved shirt and unzipped jacket (also black) with black jeans also contrasted oddly with the cheery atmosphere.

"Demyx, we're going to be late if we don't leave now," Zexion tried for the umpteenth time, frowning slightly as he caught a glimpse of the clock hanging on the wall in the living room from his place in the foyer.

"I _know_, I _know!_ Gimme a sec, will ya?" came the blonde's retort, shouted down the stairs from the second floor.

Zexion let out a silent sigh and bit back a smile, resigning himself to leaning back against the wall as he waited, keeping a steady eye on the staircase he knew the musician would come bounding down at any given moment.

At last, the sitarist came rushing down the stairs, faded blue sweater, torn black baggy jeans, battered book bag and all, opting to skip the last two steps and instead end with a dramatic, graceful leap which left him standing a foot away from an amused Zexion.

"Okay, Zexy, lesgo!" he exclaimed cheerfully, grabbing the slate-haired teenager's wrist –blatantly ignoring the half-hearted reproachful remark from Zexion as he did so– and took off running down the stairs leading up to the open front door, effectively dragging his best friend out the front door.

"Demyx, wait—_Demyx!"_ Zexion exclaimed, a hint of exasperated amusement managing to sneak into his usually calm, collected tone as he caught his balance and stopped; forcing the excited teenager to stop as well.

"Whaat?" Demyx drawled back playfully, fingers automatically toying with the cord of his favorite headphones resting comfortably around his neck (their usual place) having nothing else to do.

"Don't you want to say goodbye to your sis—"

"Oh yeah!"

And with that revelation, Demyx ran back up the stairs leading up to his house. Zexion forced back what would have been an uncharacteristic roll of his eyes in response to his friend's antics before he began trailing behind at a much more resigned pace.

Demyx skipped through the front door, pausing only a moment to flash an apologetic grin back to his friend before turning to face the interior of the house, allowing his bag to fall by his feet.

"Ariel, I'm leaving!" he called. Immediately, the lovely young woman came hurrying out of the kitchen where she had been cleaning up from the breakfast she'd served to her younger siblings that morning.

"Have a wonderful first day back, Demy," Ariel smiled, wrapping her arms around her brother in a warm embrace before pulling him back at an arms length and gazing at him affectionately.

"And I wish you the best of luck getting into your favorite electives—the same goes for you, Zexion," Arial declared, sending a kind smile toward the quiet teenager she knew to be standing by the doorway as he waited patiently for his friend. He surprised her with a thin smile of acknowledgement.

Just as she let Demyx go, another redheaded blur came rushing into the surprised blonde—nearly knocking the both of them to the floor.

"And don't forget to _pick me up_ after my dancing lessons from now on, _okay?_" Kairi warned; violet eyes narrowed as she tried to glower menacingly at her brother.

"Aw, gimme a break, Kai, that was years ago."

"Demyx, that was last week."

"Details, details," Demyx chuckled as he ruffled her hair lightly, earning himself a reluctant smile from his sister. At long last he turned to an expectant Zexion.

"And now, we've _reaaally_ gotta go before we're late," he laughed, bending down to scoop up his bag and nudging Zexion playfully as he darted back out of the house once more.

Zexion nodded one last time in the siblings' direction, before turning to follow Demyx out of the house.

"Where'd you park, Zexy?" Demyx asked, glancing back over his shoulder at said student.

"Just around the corner," Zexion replied easily, already fishing in his pocket for his keys.

They reached Zexion's admittedly _very_ nice car (it had been an early birthday gift from his constantly absent parents) and Demyx immediately went for the passenger door to take his usual seat. Zexion himself slid gracefully into the driver's seat, setting his bag into the back seat, Demyx following suit in a much more unceremonious manner.

However, when Zexion went to turn on the ignition, he felt Demyx's hand grab his wrist gently, thereby stalling the action. Zexion turned his stormy blue eyes to Demyx, where they widened a fraction upon taking in the sad smile Demyx wore.

"Nothing's really gonna stay the same anymore, now that we're _all_ in collage, is it? Not that I'm not happy that Sora, Roxas and Riku are gonna be there, too, but…everything's gonna be totally different now, won't it, now that it's not just you, me, Axel and the others?" Demyx asked quietly. Zexion's fingers twitched from where they rested on the steering wheel, but otherwise he remained frozen, mulling the question over in his head before he responded.

"It'll most definitely be different," Zexion began at last, choosing his words with care.

"But…" And here he hesitated, unsure whether or not to continue his train of thought. But the moment his gaze lifted from the steering wheel to meet those desperate eyes, his mouth began working without his consent.

"But you never know--maybe different will be better, Dem," he shrugged lightly, offering a rare, gentle smile at the blond musician and going as far as to reach up to lightly trace his fingertips along the side of Demyx's jaw before turning back to start up the car.

Much like Demyx's unexpected bout of sadness, however, he wasn't prepared for the blonde to suddenly fling his arms around him in a tight hug or for the teen to press his face against his shoulder.

"De-Demyx?" Zexion stammered uncomfortably; unsure whether or not his friend was crying.

Suddenly, the blonde teenager pulled back—however, now the blond was smiling slyly.

"_Aww_—who knew there was actually a heart somewhere in you, Zexy? _Do_ correct me if I'm wrong, but did 'His Majesty the Ice Prince' just try to console me?" he teased.

"And as to that, Demyx, I can assure you it was just your wishful thinking," Zexion deadpanned, resisting the urge to roll his eyes when he caught the sitarist sticking his tongue out at him from the corner of his eye; opting to focus on making it to the highway.

"You know, with_ your_ level of maturity, I'm rather surprised that you're starting jour junior year of college and not preschool," Zexion smirked, never once taking his eyes off the road—he didn't need to look to hear Demyx's splutter of indignation mixed with poorly-repressed laughter.

"Oh yeah? Well at least I'm not known as 'That Emo Kid,'" Demyx retorted humorously. Those words, however, did in fact manage to provoke a reaction from Zexion, for the slate-haired teen immediately frowned.

"I honestly haven't the slightest idea as to how I earned that title. I mean, it isn't as if I lock myself up all day--"

"--Actually, you kinda _do_, Zexy--"

"--Or listen to heavy metal music while I write about how very much I despise my life, is it?"

"…Kay, yeah, I don't really get it much either. I think it's just 'cause you're so quiet and read all the time," Demyx nodded fervently, giggling at the brief, incredulous expression that flashed across Zexion's features.

Demyx thought he heard Zexion mutter something along the lines of "does _no one_ bother to read anymore?" under his breath as he shook his head, thereby signaling the end of that tangent.

Satisfied, Demyx stretched back to grab his bag, unzipping the front pouch to carefully maneuver his ancient CD-player out of its case (by this point he knew quite well that Zexion preferred quiet car rides).

Successful in his mission to retrieve his favorite source of entertainment he carelessly tossed his bag over his shoulder, where it miraculously landed on the backseat and not the floor, as per usual. Once he'd plugged in the cord of his ever-present headphones, he slipped his headphones over his ears, turned on the power and pressed PLAY; allowing his eyes to close in bliss as the instrumental introduction to whatever song had turned on began.

It was a quiet ride the rest of the way to the university; after the next few minutes, Zexion allowed whatever tension he felt to melt away completely now that he was certain that they'd get there on time if the traffic remained as light as it as now.

Only after around ten minutes of silence did Zexion allow himself a furtive glance at Demyx from the corner of his eye, and he smiled faintly as he took in the sight of the unusually quiet blonde.

Demyx's eyes had fluttered closed, hiding his ocean eyes from view. His lips were parted and moving slightly as he absentmindedly mouthed the lyrics to his music, and his fingers tapped out a silent tune as they danced along the ledge of the car door where his arm rested.

'_Gorgeous,_' Zexion thought distractedly; but upon realizing what he'd just thought, however, he scowled to himself and forced his gaze back to the highway, hurriedly pushing the thought to the back of his head until a later time; he could ponder about his best friend to his heart's desire later that night as he battled his dreadful insomnia.

And if the insomnia wasn't enough, there were those occasional and terribly vivid nightmares which he'd suffered all through his life—yet somehow, to Zexion's eternal frustration, he could never remember. But his reaction was always the same; he would always wake up drenched in a cold sweat, clutching his chest where his heart would be beating at a painfully erratic rhythm until he caught his breath. Strangely enough, the reassuring beat beneath his fingers always managed to calm him.

Pushing aside his morbid thoughts as well as those of his crush, he concentrated solely on the task at hand, which consisted of pulling out of the middle lane and into the right one to reach the designated exit which cheerily welcomed the newcomers to RGU—more commonly known as the renowned Radiant Garden University.

Glancing at the clock as he pulled into the parking lot, he was satisfied to see that they still had another whole ten minutes before they were needed in the main hall to pick up their schedules.

"Demyx, we're here," Zexion announced as he stopped the car, only belatedly realizing the acknowledgement wasn't necessary. He shrugged it off however, as he was greeted with silence.

"…Demyx?" he tried again, this time turning to actually face the teen as he addressed him—and found himself suddenly struggling against the hints of a tiny smile playing on his lips as he realized the musician was still sitting there listening to his music, utterly oblivious to his surroundings and the fact that they had reached their destination.

"Dem, we've got to go," Zexion insisted, at last resorting to shaking Demyx's shoulder lightly.

"Whatsit?" Demyx asked abruptly before he hastily removed his headphones, letting them settle around his neck as he blinked dazedly at Zexion.

"Are we there already?" he asked curiously, turning his music off and tugging gently on the cord to unplug it

"Yes, the traffic was quite light, and we're approximately nine minutes early," Zexion replied easily as he stepped out of the car and closed the door while Demyx grabbed his bag to stow his CD player back in its rightful place.

Zexion waited patiently for Demyx to clamber out of the car before he locked it, motioning as he turned for the currently-stretching blonde to follow suit.

The slate-haired teen's sensitive ears picked up the sound of Demyx's quickly approaching footsteps, and so he was prepared in advance for the sudden addition of Demyx's weight on one shoulder.

"Sooo, where to first?" Demyx asked; resting his chin against Zexion's shoulder and looking up inquisitively from the corner of his eyes as he awaiting his friend's response.

"I suppose we should wait for your cousins and my brother in the main hall," Zexion replied, staring determinedly at the large building they were approaching.

"I hope they'll like it here—I mean, I know _Sora_ will, but whaddya think 'bout Riku and Rox?" Demyx wondered aloud, suddenly relinquishing his grip on Zexion in favor of easily slipping into a spontaneous, silly ("it's _abstract_, Zexion, don't sound so critical!") dance beside the not-so-surprised student as he continued their conversation.

"Well I know that Riku will be happy, so long as he's with his best friend, but with Roxas, one can never be sure," Zexion answered simply, his expression softening slightly at the sound of Demyx's bright laughter.

"Yeah, I guess you're r_i_—_aaagh!"_ Demyx ended with a yelp as he was assaulted and tackled to the ground without warning.

"Hey, Dem," was the simple greeting Demyx received as his assailant, casually dressed in dark ripped jeans and a fishnet shirt layered on top of a vivid green shirt that matched his eyes, settled himself more comfortably on top of the flabbergasted teenager.

"H-hey, Axel, I missed you," Demyx laughed breathlessly, beaming up at the smirking redhead.

"Umm, you gonna get off me?" Demyx asked after a good few moments had passed. Axel glanced up, pretending to become lost in thought before he shook his head.

"Nah, too much work," he replied with a shrug. Demyx frowned up at the snickering pyromaniac before turning desperate eyes to his silent friend who looked on in mild amusement

"Zeeexy, tell him to get off," the musician whined as he struggled to escape from beneath his lazy fellow junior.

"Axel. I do not think that Demyx appreciates his current predicament. Kindly remove yourself from his person," Zexion deadpanned, sending the sitarist into a fit of giggles—which almost immediately, due to a lack of air, turned to choked coughs.

"Alright, alright, but only 'cause he sounds like he's dying," Axel countered playfully, picking himself up and off from the relieved teenager, who scrambled up as well, brushing dirt off of his pants.

"That was really mean," Demyx pouted, struggling to repress a smile.

"Deal," was Axel's easy retort, but he was grinning, and at last so was Demyx.

"So, what're you two doing here this early? _I'm_ only here already 'cause Reno threw me out of the house. Which is _so_ totally unfair, seeing as it's my place, too. We've still got time to spare—wanna go get something to eat?" Axel asked, throwing an arm around Demyx's (as well as an unwilling Zexion's) shoulders, a soft clacking accompanying the motion as the assortment of random bangles on his arms knocked together.

"Sorry, we've gotta pass on that; we're waiting for Sora, Rox and Riku," Demyx smiled ruefully.

"That's fine--mind if I tag along too, then?" Axel asked, not disheartened in the least.

"No prob; the more the merrier, right?" Demyx grinned between his two friends.

"Did you find out who you're rooming with this year, Axel?" Zexion finally spoke up as they continued walking to the main building, titling his head inquisitively.

"Marly again," Axel grinned.

"It's great—I practically get my own room, seeing as he's always hanging out at Larxene's," he said with a triumphant smirk.

"So, d'ya know what the rooming arrangements for your cousins' and your brother's gonna be?" Axel asked.

"I dunno—I'm not really sure. It'll most likely cause a problem, since Sora is best friends with Riku, but he's Rox's brother…aw geez, poor Sora's gonna get caught in the middle as usual," Demyx laughed nervously.

"I'm sure they'll work something out," Zexion reassured Demyx. The blond nodded and mumbled an assent distractedly, as now his bright blue eyes were busy searching the sea of students for familiar faces.

Zexion himself began searching for an easy-to-find feature of his brother's—Riku's striking platinum hair.

However, the two were forced to put their mission on a hiatus when Axel whistled loudly, nudging them urgently.

"_Damn_--that blondie's new, right? I've never seen him around before, and he looks young enough to be a freshman," Axel managed to get out, gazing off to their left.

"Where, Axel?" Demyx sighed impatiently, gracing Axel with a quick scan of the crowd out in the direction so that he could get back to searching for his—

"Ohmigawd, Zexy, there's Roxy! That means Sora 'n Riku must be here too, then," Demyx bubbled excitedly, launching himself from the two other startled teenagers as he sped off in his cousin's general direction.

"_Roxaaas!"_

The cry of his name was all the warning said blonde had before an excited sitarist very nearly knocked him over (he managed to keep his balance, however, as the younger Strife twin was fortunate enough to be experienced with such random glomp-attacks on a regular basis).

"Get off me, Demyx," Roxas grumbled, as if irritated, but his struggle to keep the corners of his lips turned downward said otherwise.

"Aww, but I haven't seen you in _ages!_ Didn't you miss me?"

"Yeah, whateve—"

"_Demy!"_ cried an excited blur of colorful clothes and spiked brown hair which raced toward the addressed student before he found himself pulled into a tight hug.

"_Sora!"_ Demyx laughed, musing his cousin's hair playfully before pulling away to smile warmly at the overjoyed brunette.

"Geez you got tan--how was it spending summer in Destiny Islands?" Demyx asked eagerly.

"It was really nice spending time out there with cousin Rikku, but I missed you guys back here _so _much—Hollow Bastian'll always be home," Sora replied, grinning so widely that his eyes were forced shut.

Zexion looked on with a slight smile as he watched the newly reunited trio began to excitedly relay the latest events.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa; hang on a sec—Dem _knows_ that cutie?" Axel spluttered impatiently, jade eyes bright with gradually building anticipation. Zexion glanced up to regard the redhead in mild surprise.

"Do you mean to say that the… _'blondie'_ you were mentioning before was… Roxas?" Zexion asked haltingly, eyeing him dubiously.

"Roxas, huh?" Axel repeated to himself as a slow smirk spread across his lips, not seeming to register Zexion's inquiry.

"Hey, Zexion," greeted a calm, smooth voice from the approaching newcomer. Zexion blinked as he registered the new voice.

"Hello, Riku," Zexion replied, nodding at his brother in acknowledgement.

"It was quite courteous of you to offer to pick the twins up from the airport this morning in my place," Zexion continued airily, although there were the slightest hints of a smirk playing on his lips. Riku's aquamarine eyes narrowed warily.

"…And your point is?" he drawled nonchalantly, although his blazing eyes dared his older sibling to continue on his tangent while they were still in the twins' presence.

"Why would I need a point? And if I _were_ to have one, well… we both know that you'd already be aware of it," Zexion responded, shrugging indifferently; however he was forced to angle his face away to hide his tell-tale smirk with his long bangs.

"Hiya Riku!" Demyx exclaimed, beaming as he appeared out of nowhere, punching the younger Nomura lightly on the shoulder in a playful greeting. Riku smiled back, returning the favor.

"Hi Demyx--happy to have your cousins back?" Riku joked, laughing at Demyx's ecstatic reaction as the dirty blonde nodded vigorously.

"I believe it's about time we left to retrieve our schedules," Zexion spoke up, offering his friends a faint smile as they turned to look at him.

"Aw Zexy—you're so responsible!" Demyx giggled, throwing his arms around the slate-haired teen in an enthusiastic hug and letting go of him—all before Zexion could protest— before he sped off in his cousins' direction to grab their wrists and drag them along behind him happily, laughing giddily along with Sora and ignoring an irate Roxas' objections, Riku following along shaking his head.

"…I supposed we'd better leave as well, Axel," Zexion sighed.

No response.

"Axel? Oh, for the…" Zexion snapped at last and, upon realizing the redhead was still utterly taken with the fact that one of his best friends was _related_ to what appeared to be his latest love interest, opted to grab the pyromaniac by the wrist himself to drag the (sickeningly obviously) infatuated student along with him.

It seemed as though it was going to be an even _longer_ day than Zexion had anticipated.

Zexion and Axel caught up to the others in the main hall where they had stopped at the end of the line to collect their new schedules.

"So…how do we find out about our rooming arrangements?" Riku asked casually—making a futile attempt to avoid the inevitable fight between himself and Roxas. At the simple inquiry, however, Roxas immediately grabbed his twin's arm and forcefully dragged the yelping brunette to his side.

"I don't know how the process itself is set up, but the one fundamental factor remains that Sora stays with _me_," the blonde replied just as easily; his tone conflicting almost humorously with his vice grip on his brother (it _would_ have been funny, had he not managed to look so menacing and Sora not been wincing at the sheer amount of pressure Roxas had clamped down with on his arm).

"Roxas, please calm down. Hold onto Sora any tighter, and I'm afraid you might amputate his arm," Zexion said tonelessly, not even blinking at the revering glance Sora sent his way.

Roxas said nothing, but released his grip on the brunette's arm—muttering a nearly inaudible "sorry" to Sora as he watched his sibling gingerly rub his arm in a feeble attempt to get the feeling back.

"So you're Demyx's cousin, are you?" came a purred inquiry from Roxas' left.

Roxas blinked before glancing up to see a smirking redheaded teenager.

"Hey, my name's Axel. A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?" he asked, tapping his temple lightly with his index finger. Roxas regarded him blankly before turning his cerulean gaze toward his cousin and Zexion.

"Do you know this jerk?" he asked gruffly, gesturing his thumb over his shoulder to point out the speechless teen.

"Unfortunately, yes," Zexion sighed. Demyx, on the other hand, perked up immediately at the question, grinning broadly at the opportunity to introduce his friend.

"Yeah, that's Axel--he was one of the first kids in my class that I became best friends with here. I know I've mentioned him before… oh yeah! Remember that story I told you about in my freshman year? It was your favorite one, remember--with Professor Vexen?"

Roxas turned back to stare at the lanky student calculatingly.

"Are you the one Dem told me and Sora about in his first year here—the one who burned down one of the stations in the chemistry lab?" he asked at last.

"That's me," was Axel's proud answer. Roxas tilted his head thoughtfully, before rewarding the hopeful student with a smile—a _tiny_ smile, but a smile nonetheless.

"I set off the sprinklers at Twilight High because I set the school's entire supply of chemistry books on fire for my senior prank," Roxas responded, nodding curtly at the now wide-eyed junior before engaging decidedly in an argument with Riku upon joining the conversation Sora and his best friend had been having.

"I think you 'n Roxas will wind up either getting along really well or hating each other's guts," Demyx joked, but his happy demeanor faded somewhat, however, as he took in Axel's slack expression.

"What's wrong? Don't you like him?" he asked worriedly, pursing his lips together nervously.

"Oh, believe me Demyx, that's not the problem at all—quite the contrary in fact… that is, _if_ I'm not mistaken," Zexion replied, unable to repress a smirk as at last Axel managed to muster up the strength to glare (read: pout) at him.

"Hey, hey, hey—you do _not_ mess with someone's interest in what _obviously_ appears to be their _soul mate_," Axel retorted in a low voice, jade eyes darting over to rest on said "soul mate."

Demyx glanced between the two, obviously confused.

"What interest? Whose soul mate?" he asked bewilderedly. When neither of his friends responded (one sulking, one smirking) he crossed his arms and frowned, becoming lost deeply in thought before his azure eyes widened considerably.

"Wait a sec…Axel, that "blondie" from before wouldn't have happed to be _Rox_, would it?" he accused softly, a sure smirk of his own touching his lips as the redhead's gaze snapped to him in surprise.

"Since when did _you_ become so perceptive, _ditz?"_ Axel shot back playfully, loving the (adorable) glower sent back his way.

"_Hey!_ I am _not_ a ditz!" Demyx whined loudly, gaining much of the surrounding students' attention.

"Well, _I_ for one am quite sure you're not, Ducky," came an amused response, and Demyx looked over his shoulder in surprise to identify the newcomer.

"Luxord!" he exclaimed joyfully, hugging the British man tightly before he pulled away.

"How've ya been?" he asked, eyes shining happily. The gambler smiled back, and was about to reply when Sora suddenly threw himself behind the musician, peeking over his shoulder nervously as Roxas stomped over, followed by Riku.

'_Save me,'_ Sora mouthed, wide blue eyes begging the sitarist to interfere.

"Rox, cut it out, you're scaring your brother," Demyx reprimanded cheerily.

"Riku, you too," Zexion added. Riku mouthed wordlessly before he managed to reply.

"W-what did--_I_ didn't do anything!" he protested, glaring daggers at his older brother. Zexion spared him a bored look before turning away to greet Luxord.

"Hello, Luxord. How was your trip over the break to London?" he asked quietly, blatantly ignoring the brief, infuriated splutters that came from behind him.

"It was fine, thank you," Luxord replied amiably, blinking curiously about at the new faces.

"It seems as though you've brought a number of new students with you this year…relatives?" Luxord observed as he gestured toward the three freshmen now tuned into the conversation as well.

"Yup--this is my cousin, Sora," Demyx began, gesturing to the grinning brunette. Luxord glanced at the smiling student.

"I see that smile runs in the family," he chuckled softly. Sora laughed brightly as he linked his arms casually behind his head.

"And this is his twin brother, Roxas," Demyx continued, motioning toward the younger twin. Roxas lifted eyes identical to his brother's to meet Luxord's kind gaze.

"Hey," Roxas mumbled, lifting a hand in an uninterested fashion.

"Lastly, this is my younger brother Riku," Zexion introduced, somehow managing to sound even more apathetic than usual.

"I don't think you could've possibly managed to have sounded _any_ happier, Zexion," Riku replied coolly.

"I take it your rather… _blasé_ personalities are a common trait in your family as well then," Luxord observed, grinning as he shook his head.

"Ooh! Lux, have you seen any of the others around?" Demyx asked excitedly. Luxord frowned slightly, tapping his chin lightly as he thought.

"Well, I _did_ happen to run into Marluxia and Larxene on my way to the line… and I'm _sure_ I caught a glimpse of Lexaeus' looming figure as I was parking my car before," he answered decidedly. Demyx clapped happily and voiced his enthusiasm with a bright "yay!"

"But I'd best be off for now—I promised the English department that I'd assist in organizing some of the new books that arrived in the library that have yet to be sorted," he explained.

"Okay then—see you around, Luxord!" Demyx said warmly; Luxord responded with a small wave and a soft "cheerio" before he became lost in the crowd of students.

It didn't take long after that for the group of students to reach the front. When they did, however, they were greeted with yet another familiar face.

"Hiya, Jack!" Demyx greeted cheerfully. Said student gave a slight start before gazing up with his deep, dark eyes.

"Oh, Demyx! I take it you're well?" he asked, sitting back slightly with a smile and tucking a loose strand of the palest blond hair back behind his ear.

"Yup! Hey, how're things with you 'n Sally?" Demyx asked. The tall, pale senior's smile turned dreamy as his girlfriend was brought up in the conversation.

"Sally's great...wonderful, beautif-ah!—She's very well, thank you for asking!" he amended hastily, flushing slightly.

"Okay then, so it's Demyx…?"

"Mizu. Demyx Mizu."

"Oh right, sorry! Sheesh, we were in so many of the same classes last year, you'd think I'd remember," Jack laughed, typing Demyx's full name into the computer to pull up and print the documents to hand to the eager junior.

"There you go! Have a wonderful day--_oh!_ And be sure to keep this year's Halloween Fling in mind! You're always _so_ creative!" Jack reminded earnestly before shooing him off so that he could help Zexion next.

Demyx became so occupied in reading his schedule that he jumped when Zexion tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"So… how many classes are we going to share this year?" he asked easily. Demyx grinned.

"I dunno—but we should wait for the others so that we can all compare together!" he replied, feeling pleased with himself when Zexion agreed that it was a good plan.

When all six of the students had collected their necessary information, they found themselves in the courtyard, sitting beside Demyx's and Axel's favorite fountain which depicted a rather large, marble Moogle.

"Okay! Sora, Riku, Roxas—you three compare your schedules while me, Zexy and Axel see about ours," Demyx directed while grabbing an unprepared Axel's schedule.

"Hey… Axel, we're in, like, every other class together!" Demyx said cheerily, handing the redhead his schedule back so that he could point out the similarities and differences.

As he listened, Zexion managed to catch that there were differences between their art and history classes before he suddenly found himself missing his schedule as an impatient Demyx stole it from his grasp.

"AP English… Bio… art…" he caught the blonde murmuring under his breath as he quickly scanned the two schedules. After a mere ten seconds, the mulleted blonde handed his paper back beaming.

"So, excepting your placement in AP math and AP history, we're together in all the other classes, not including our electives! This _sooo_ beats last year's two classes!" Demyx said happily.

"What about you three?" Axel directed toward the freshmen, where Sora was just handing back the papers to their respective owners.

"Oh! Riku and I are in nearly all of the same classes, but Roxas is in most of the AP's. He's got a few of the same classes with us, though--most importantly, we've all got chemistry together which _meaaans…_ I'm _not_ gonna fail!" Sora replied cheerfully.

"Who've you got for chemistry?" Axel asked Roxas, moving to sit down beside him. Roxas glanced down at his paper before a slow smirk appeared on his lips.

"…Vexen," he answered, looking quite satisfied.

"And if I find he was as mean to Dem as my cousin says he was… I'll give 'im _hell_," he continued fervently, crinkling his schedule slightly as his grip tightened at the memory of Demyx's complaints about the teacher when he visited home during his breaks from school.

Sora, upon sensing the sudden change in his brother demeanor quickly scooted closer to Riku.

"I feel bad for Mr. Vexen," Sora whispered into Riku's ear.

"It's professor, Sora. And I don't feel bad for him, I fear for his well-being," Riku replied quietly.

"Oh, you'll loose those concerns soon enough—like, say, when he refuses to call on you in class, and then scolds you loudly at the end of class for never speaking up 'cause he doesn't like you," Axel laughed.

"But...but then, how did you pass…you _did_ pass, didn't you?" Sora asked worriedly.

"Pass? Oh, don't worry, _I_ passed with flying colors. Chemistry's my best subject, y'know—'cause I'd _never_ screw up the opportunity to burn things when I've got _permission_ to," Axel scoffed, offering the brunette a reassuring grin.

"So I guess the last thing to settle is our dorm arrangements," Demyx blurted out before could stop himself, wincing and quickly clamping his hands over his mouth when he realized it was too late.

Once the words had left his mouth, Riku's and Roxas' eyes met determinedly. Both boys reached out to grab the sorry-looking brunette situated between them, who, in turn, hastily tried to jump off the ledge of the fountain.

Unfortunately, he somewhat managed to succeed in propelling himself the _wrong_ way and ended up tumbling back into the water.

When at last the spluttering brunette managed to sit back up –batting away Riku's and Roxas' hands all the while– he crossed his arms and glanced between the two somewhat darkly.

"So… What have we learned here, today?" Sora asked expectantly, over Axel's hysterical laughter. The two looked away sheepishly.

"Don't fight next to a fountain while you're around?"

"I should always get what I want?" (At this Sora sent the blonde an exasperated look).

"Well, that too, I guess, Riku--and no, Roxas. No. I think that this is a perfectly good example that," and here, Sora stopped dramatically before continuing.

"…That fighting leads to bad karma which means even more back luck for _me._ So please. _Please_, can't we come to an agreement in a calm, _civilized_ fashion?" Sora pleaded earnestly, blue eyes searching his brother's and best friend's eyes desperately as he began wringing out his drenched brown locks (which quickly sprang back up into their naturally spiked style upon loosing the excess moisture).

"What do _you_ suggest we do, Sora?" Roxas grumbled, looking pointedly away as Demyx unabashedly gaped at his being open to suggestions for once in his lifetime. Sora, on the other hand, simply grinned.

"Weeell…"

And that was when Sora chose to introduce his incredibly complex and positively brilliant technique that, upon harnessing the godly Powers That Be, would make the life-changing decision for them.

Or, simply put, the way in which Riku and Roxas found themselves settling the matter over a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors (best two out of three).

Which Riku won; thereby leaving him both incredibly satisfied and with an extremely painful (and very nearly fractured) shin.

Roxas, luckily enough, didn't even have to deal with the problem of finding another student willing to share a room, for the moment Roxas had placed his foot back down on the ground from kicking his brother's best friend, an unusually eager Axel invited him to share his room, explaining that his "roommate" didn't even set foot in their dorm, seeing as he spent all of his time at his girlfriend Larxene's (whom, he added, he should avoid at all costs necessary).

The simpering redhead had practically _melted_ at both Roxas' consent and smile, much to Demyx's and Zexion's amusement.

And suddenly, as everything had worked itself out in the end –and it only dawned upon Zexion as he and Demyx were stepping into their new dorm room– the day _hadn't_ been quite as tedious as he'd first suspected it would be.

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Jessie: **Smiles **Why, yes, I _am_ having the time of my life writing this!

Joh: Aw, Jessie, that's what writing's about!

Jessie: **Gushes** Aishiteru, sis!

Joh: **Huggles** Wo ai ni, sweetie!

Jessie: I'm so happy I'm so active again. Thank you all so much for your patience! And—**IMPORTANT NOTE!** I was talking to Joh about this, and this is what I decided on. I love posting biiig updates, and I know (from experience, mind you!) that I _love_ when authors post biiig updates for story. Key point? I would very much appreciate it you would all grant me your patience while I'm writing it

Happy Zemyx Day, everybody!

_**Please Review**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, but (insert witty remark here).

Jessie: So...I realized just how long its been since I've done anything…I just haven't been able to write lately.

Joh: But Jessie, all we've been able to _think _about lately is Otakon.

Jessie: …See, this is unfortunately true. The time we usually reserve to help one another out with our storylines has been handed over to the lovely subject of Otakon.

Joh: VicexMo forever!

Jessie: And…Ultimo?

Joh: No, Jessie, don't call it that, remember?

Jessie: Oh yeah…n'ways, I had another chapter of this ready to post, so I thought I'd update something before I left for a few days. So enjoy!

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I've known Axel for a while, now. He's one of those friends you know you'll always treasure forever mostly because of the memorable times you've had together.

It's only been three years, and we've had enough "memorable" experiences to last us a lifetime (but that could just be _me_ speaking; that pyromaniac seems to thrive on 'em).

But what makes Axel special to me is the way we met in freshman year. I used to be a hell of a lot weaker before I met him—running away from physical fights was more to my tastes, and I was _damn_ good at it. I told myself I could get myself out of a sticky situation if I really had to.

But… well, I'd never exactly experienced getting double teamed by two college students, like, twice my size before.

I'm still not even quite sure what it was I did that must have ticked them off, but one minute I'm walking down the courtyard path back to my dorm room to meet Zexion, and the next I'm tackled forcefully to the ground.

_That's_ probably the point at which I would've started running in any other scenario, but you hafta remember that there's that dumb Murphy and his stupid laws. So the way these jerks push me, I _not only_ manage to twist my ankle beneath me, but to simultaneously smack myself in the windpipe, consequently rendering myself unable to speak. Ouch, much?

Yeah. So how stupid do _I_ feel for having fallen asleep in those required self defense demonstrations in class? Oh, no Demyx—why would anyone in this world _ever_ wanna assault _you_?

Oh, right, maybe _just 'cause they can?_

Anyway, I'm already in pain, so they just sit back a minute to sneer about me being a stupid, weak (no duh) freshmen for a bit –what were their names? Umm…right, sorry—Seifer 'n Rai– before one of them (I think it was Rai) kicks me in the stomach. Now, unfortunately I'm not very pan resistant, so I'm already starting to tear up—I admit it, I'm a bit of a crybaby, okay?

But before they can really do anything worse, this redheaded kid comes sprinting from out of nowhere, and starts yelling at the two bullies (this guy had _the_ most colorful vocabulary I'd ever heard) to leave me alone. When they see _him_, however, they just laugh--but I can tell they're nervous now 'cause their laughter suddenly sounds strained.

The new guy only has to snarl and let one loose on Rai before the two take off running—just as fast as _I_ would have initially run away if given the chance, mind you.

The student simply plops down beside me –looking a lot more calm– before asking if I'm alright. So I, being me, deem that it's kind of been a while since I've had the wind knocked out of me and try to speak (must've been the wrong choice, though, 'cause I start coughing like crazy).

But he smacks _himself_ in the forehead, however, muttering an apology and saying that he shouldn't have even asked yet. So he just sits back to wait another five minutes.

I know—_what?_

I stare at him like he's crazy (I mean _c'mon_, here's some random guy I've never even _seen_ before who, for whatever reason, decides to swoop in and help me out and _then_, as if he hasn't already done enough, chooses to wait around to make sure I'm gonna be okay. Isn't that a bit much?), and… well, I must've had some funny look on my face, 'cause he takes one glance at me and starts cracking up like I just told him the funniest joke in the world.

"I think you an' me'll get along fine, kid," he says, looking amused—and I decide I like his low voice.

"Don't worry about _those_ jerks; it's like their lifelong mission to beat up anyone that they happen to find irritating for some reason or another. Hey, don't look like that, I can't see anything worth not liking about you just yet. And don't worry, they'll be sorry one day—that'll be the day they pick one with me. _Anyway…_" and now he looks at me seriously.

"So d'ya think you can talk yet?" I swallow and, now that the pain isn't quite as excruciating as before, I nod slowly.

"What's your dorm number? I saw you take a tumble—d'ya need help getting back?" he asked, smiling reassuringly when I nod only hesitantly.

"It's…on the sixth floor of the main building—ninth door down—on the right from the stairs," I manage to whisper, and suddenly I'm back up on my feet again, leaning against this guy's surprisingly strong frame.

"Oh!" he suddenly exclaims as we're heading down my path again, albeit much more slowly than before.

"Sorry, I totally forgot. My name's Axel Turk. That's A-X-E-L. Commit it to memory," he said smoothly, and I notice how easily the introduction rolls of his tongue, and I wonder if he recites those very same lines regularly. He glances at me from the corner of one surprisingly vivid green eye.

"And your name is…?

I manage to pull on one of my signature 100-wat grins, and he lets out an easy bark of laughter at the sight of it; I suppose it _must've_ been funny, though, to see such a bright smile on such a battered-looking person.

"Demyx…Mizu."

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**▪▫ ∫Chapter Two∫ ▫▪**

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"_Demyx_. For the love of all things good, _would you_ get out the doo_r_ before we're late?" Zexion sighed impatiently, casting his gaze up to the ceiling as he wondered exactly how he'd put up with his best friend's last-minute habits for as long as he had (approximately thirteen years).

"All _right_ already, Zex!" Demyx replied as he slipped on a black T-shirt to top his azure, long-sleeved one to match his black jeans.

"Geez, Zexion, don't you _ever_ wear anything that's _not_ dark?" Demyx complained as he took in Zexion's black attire which consisted of dark jeans and a button-down dark shirt. Zexion sent him a blank look which the blonde read as one of his usual "you-very-well-know­-the-answer-to-that-so-let's-not-waste-any-more-time-and-_leave_-already."

"Okay, okay—whatever," Demyx waved away, laughing as he slipped on his backpack.

"And now…we go!" Demyx declared dramatically, marching out of the door and making a sharp right--

"Demyx, the cafeteria is _this_ way…"

--before quickly changing his footing so that he stumbled, caught himself, and continued to stride off the other way, blushing slightly (Zexion followed behind shaking his head, but he was smiling slightly).

"_Sooo_, who're we meeting for breakfast?" Demyx asked brightly, turning around to face the slate-haired teen so that he was walking backwards, arms stretched out to the sides as a precaution in keeping his balance.

"I received positive responses from Axel and Sora—so I expect those two plus my brother, Roxas, and perhaps even a somewhat neglected Marluxia," Zexion replied, slipping his sleeve up his arm to glance at his watch, nodding to himself in relief to see that they were still running on schedule.

The two friends approached the cafeteria –one skipping, one walking– only to be stopped at the door by a happy-go-lucky sophomore they recognized as none other than the bubbly and energetic—

"Yuffie!" Demyx laughed pleasantly as the girl pounced on him, pulling him into a tight embrace.

"Demyx, my summer was _waaay_ too quiet without your music!" she cried suddenly, jumping away so that she could point at him accusingly with playfully narrowed eyes.

"Well I'm sorry Yuffie; but you very well _know_ my sitar stays with me," Demyx laughed, reaching out to ruffle the girl's dark hair. She didn't even bother to struggle to keep up her angry façade for another mere five seconds before she broke out beaming.

"Aww, that's _so_ not fair, Demykins--you _know_ I just can't stay mad at _you!"_ she scolded amiably, shooting an arm out to pinch the blonde's cheek lightheartedly.

"But I've actually gotta go for now—The Great Ninja Yuffie is on yet another mission to locate the elusive Cloud Strife, and so I must be off!" she proclaimed, offering the two juniors a quick devious grin and salute in farewell before she ran off.

"Mmm_,_ isn't it great to be back here to see all these familiar faces, Zexion?" Demyx asked merrily as they wandered into the large dining hall, glancing at the older Nomura expectantly—accepting Zexion's brief, small smile as answer enough.

The very moment they came within sight of the already-bustling Starbucks perimeter, they caught the attention of a certain, easily excitable brunette who immediately stood up and began to wave them down furiously, only stopping when a laughing Riku forced him to take a seat once more.

"Good morning guys!" Sora exclaimed, sapphire eyes sparkling. His chipper morning attitude elicited a bright laugh from Demyx and even managed to make Zexion smile—for, as usual, the perky boy seemed near to bursting with joy.

"Good morning, Sora," Zexion greeted politely, placing his bag neatly by the feet of one of the two chairs Axel had managed to reserve for him by lying straight across (the redhead grumbled about having to be moved from his accustomed position, but was easily silenced with an icy look sent his way).

"I believe it's my turn--the usual, Dem?" Zexion asked casually, already setting off towards the counter of the coffee shop, but hesitating as he glanced back over his shoulder to receive a nod from his best friend before continuing on his way.

"So, did you guys sleep well your first night away from home?" Demyx asked.

Strangely enough, the musician didn't receive the expected reaction from his bubbly cousin who, instead of responding with a cheery affirmative, blushed deeply and looked away. Demyx blinked in his confusion before turning concerned eyes to Riku, who slipped an arm around the brunette to give him a slight squeeze.

"Sora just a little emotional last night, is all," Riku explained calmly before turning his attention to the brunette to smile kindly and murmur a reassuring "there's absolutely nothing wrong with that" (which only made the dark-haired teenager flush even more darkly).

Reassured that he knew his cousin had made it through the night all right in the end, he turned to smile at the twin with the morning attitude on the other side of the spectrum, only to find Roxas glowering determinedly at his Riku from behind his cup of coffee.

"What's wrong, Rox? _You're_ not exactly the emotional type--didn't you sleep well?" Demyx asked confusedly. Roxas remained silent, choosing to focus on nursing his coffee. Axel, on the other hand, let out an easy laugh.

"'Sleep well?' Demyx, this kid sleeps like a _rock_—d'ya have _any_ idea just how hard it was to get him up this morning? I swear; you try to wake him, and he instinctively tries to throttle you in his sleep," Axel joked, ignoring the razor glare that the blonde chose to now shoot in his direction. Demyx simply shook his head, grinning.

"Oh no, I totally get what you're saying 'cause, y'know, the only way I can actually get him up easily is by--"

"Demyx, shut up right now or I swear you'll regret it," Roxas growled, blazing blue eyes daring his cousin to speak another word. However, the look the blond sent the junior that usually would have guaranteed Demyx's silence only caused the sitarist to grin mischievously.

"Hey Axel, commit _this_ to memory—Roxas is one of _the_ most--"

"Demyx, shut up--"

"--I know, it's _so_ strange; you totally won't believe me until you try it, but it's true; he's actually really--"

"Demyx, I _swear--_"

"—_Very—"_

"_**Demyx**__."_

"_Ticklish!"_ Demyx squeaked excitedly before jumping up from where he sat to run around to hide behind Axel, giggling madly as the blonde made to lunge at him with a furious growl.

"Demyx, I hate you," Roxas grumbled, closing his eyes as he leant down to rest his chin down on the table, his fury quickly subsiding as he seemed to deem it still too early to overreact.

"_Really_ now, Roxy? I would've never guessed," Axel claimed, green eyes shinning with interest.

"…'_Roxy?'_" Demyx repeated slowly, a disbelieving grin forming on his lips after a full five seconds had passed without any protests from the irate blonde. Roxas opened one eye to glare at him.

"Don't you get any ideas, Demyx," he warned wearily. "This _dimwit_ here wouldn't shut up about how he was entitled to deeming it his personal _pet name_ for me, saying I was in his _debt_ from accepting the invitation to share his dorm," Roxas spat, but there was no real fire behind his words--merely a resigned tone as he seemed to accept his fate.

"Axel…I think you just might've accomplished the impossible; I think…I think you might've tamed _Roxas_," Demyx stammered tentatively from where he stood behind Axel; ocean eyes wide in amazement.

"Demyx, do us all a favor, and _shut up_," Roxas muttered sleepily, nestling his face into the crook of his arm and promptly falling asleep on the table, forgoing all further futile attempts to wake up with caffeine.

"Here you go, Demyx," interrupted Zexion's soft voice, and Demyx eagerly reached out to take the offered beverage, impulsively bringing the cup to his lips to take a sip.

"Mmm, thanks Zexy," he said happily, licking his lips to ensure he didn't waste a drop of his favorite drink.

Demyx flopped back down into his designated seat, immediately sprawling out into a comfortable position while Zexion gracefully sat himself down, carefully brining his own drink to his lips as he regarded the blonde beside him now engaged in a conversation about how Sora, Riku, and Roxas' first classes at RGU would go.

Axel abruptly realized he was smiling somewhat giddily while he stared at the (sinfully delectable looking) blonde sleeping as someone tapped him impatiently on the shoulder. Schooling his features into one of his usual nonchalant expressions, he tore his gaze away from Roxas and turned his eyes to the newcomer.

"A little birdie told me that you'd invited a freshman to take my place in our dorm room this year, Axel. Is this true?" Marluxia asked as he looked up from examining his meticulously painted nails—however, he didn't sound angry in the least, merely curious.

"Yep--and isn't he a catch?" Axel joked admiringly, nodding with a wry grin to the blonde Strife twin sprawled out on the table. Marluxia himself even had to let out a chuckle at the sight, and shook his head—long pink locks swaying about with the motion.

"Just promise me you'll at the very least _try_ to keep your hands off of him for the first few weeks, lest you traumatize him for life?" Marluxia teased, placing his hands on his hips as he leered knowingly at the tattooed teen.

"Oh, don't worry Marly—this one's _different_; he puts up a fight," Axel said, licking his lips as his gaze settled on the dozing freshman. Marluxia laughed gaily, before his attentions were captured by something else entirely: Sora.

"Well now, who's _this_ cutie?" Marluxia gushed; reaching out to coyly twirl a stray lock of brown hair around his finger, remaining purposefully oblivious to the withering glare Riku sent him.

"I'm Sora!" the brunette bubbled, not disturbed in the least by Marluxia's antics, merely grinning happily at the adoring "aw" that escaped the pink-haired junior's lips.

"My name's Marluxia, or Marly if you want—and I _-was-_ previously Axel's roommate, but it seems he doesn't want me anymore--" and here he let out a playful, indignant huff in the redhead's direction before continuing--"so I'm just moving into my girlfriend Larxene's room permanently," he finished with a dramatic flip of his hair.

"And it _seems_ as though Axel here finds this sleeping beauty here to be quite a catch," he winked suggestively, nodding at the dozing teen. Sora blinked, glancing between the smirking Marluxia, his twin and Axel, who wore an incredulous expression before letting out a giggle.

"Oh, you mean Roxas? He's my twin brother!" Sora beamed–as usual, oblivious to any and all romantic hints. Marluxia blinked in surprise, blue eyes darting between the siblings.

"That _would_ explain the similar adorable traits," Marluxia mused thoughtfully, before offering an innocent smile to (the still ruffled) Riku.

"And whom do I have the pleasure of meeting next?" Marluxia purred, leaning down to prop his chin up on the palm of his hand as he gazed interestedly at the silver-haired Nomura.

"Riku," the boy managed to reply tersely. Marluxia stared back at him for one long moment, taking in his appearance before suddenly reaching out to gently thread his fingers through Riku's bangs.

"Dear me, how _do_ you manage to keep your hair looking so sexy?" he asked, eyes wide with disbelief. Riku stared back at him, looking somewhat shocked before replying with a offhanded "two hours of every morning spent in front of the bathroom mirror, _that's_ how," but now the teen was fighting back a smile (it seemed as though he'd concluded that, as Marluxia treated him in the same, playful manner as he had the admittedly lovable brunette, their pink-haired companion had _not_ in fact been coming onto his best friend but was merely blessed with an overly-friendly personality).

At last Marluxia managed to stop gushing over Riku's long locks and, after moving on to briefly bubble over Demyx as well (much to Zexion's barely hidden displeasure), bade the group farewell, swaggering off to return to where he and Larxene had supposedly been sitting.

"He seemed really nice, didn't he?" Sora observed, looking up to Riku inquisitively.

"I guess," he admitted with some reluctance, smiling at the goofy grin Sora offered in response to his answer.

"So, what now Demy?" Sora asked suddenly, turning his gaze to where his cousin was chattering away to a quiet Zexion, who would nod every once in a while to show that he was indeed listening.

"Hmm? Oh—uh, well, what time does your first class start?" he asked.

"Dunno, hang on a sec," Sora replied, before turning his gaze back to Riku.

"Hey, Riku, when does our first class start?" he asked, tugging intently on Riku's shirt.

"We've got first period English at nine thir--"

"--'Kay thanks," Sora interrupted before turning his back on a vaguely affronted-looking Riku to look back at Demyx.

"Our first class is at nine thirty," Sora echoed cheerfully. Axel turned to raise an eyebrow at Demyx's grinning cousin before shaking his head.

"Damn, could you and Blondie be any different? What _do_ you two have in common?" he snickered. Sora perked up at that inquiry.

"Ooh, there's a lot things actually. We both love the beach, coffee, pudding and watching movies with popcorn late at night! It's nearly impossible to wake either of us up, but I'm kinda more of the morning person. Oh, and we're both really, _really_ ticklish! But Roxas doesn't like it when I tell people that," Sora explained, nodding fervently.

"Heh--hey, Dem, it looks like I would've found out about the ticklish factor eventually anyway, what with this chatterbox," Axel chuckled, smirking almost fondly at the bouncy teenager.

"So tell me--are the two of you ticklish in the same places?" Axel asked casually, but now there was a predatory gleam in his eyes. At this time on the other side of the table, Zexion suddenly picked up Demyx's and his drinks from the table, thrusting Demyx's cup into the surprised sitarist's hands without explanation.

"Yeah, I think so. Why?"

"Oh, I was just curious; 'cause y'know, that would mean that I could find out where Roxy's ticklish right--_**now**_!" Axel declared triumphantly as he suddenly leapt over to where Sora was sitting to grab at the brunette's sides.

"Ahahahaa—A-Axel—gah!—_n-hahaha-__**nooo**__!"_ Sora managed to gasp out between peals of laughter before he was overtaken by an intense fit of mad giggles as Axel mercilessly tickled him.

"_Aha_-Ri-_ku_…! _Hahaha!_ _Riku,_ _**help!**_**"** Sora begged; tears of laughter streaming down his face as he desperately tried to fend off the smirking redhead's quick hands.

"I don't know, Sora—after cutting me off like that before?" Riku replied with amusement, settled back comfortably as he was entertained with the sight of his best friend enjoying himself with their new company.

Demyx grinned at the sight, muttering a quick thanks to Zexion for moving his cup before he took a long sip, feeling very much content. Even Zexion couldn't quite manage to completely repress a small smile as he watched the commotion unfold.

"I'm—_**AXEL**_ _ST__**-AHA-**__OP_—I'm _**sorry!**_ 'm sorry, 'm _**sorry—hahaHA! RIKU, **__**PLEASE**__**!" **_Sora screeched, kicking out in a feeble attempt to drive off the playful redhead, who merely caught the brunette's right leg and grabbed at his thigh; unable to hold back his own snickers of amusement as Sora let out a rather girly shriek of laughter in response.

"Alright, alright—I think you've tortured him enough, Axel. Let 'im go," Riku smirked, chuckling when the tattooed junior only reluctantly released the nearly hyperventilating teen, allowing Sora to catch his breath.

"Th-that was…re-_hic!_-ally mean," Sora muttered, his pout only deepening when he hiccupped half-way through his telling off and Axel burst out sniggering.

"Aw, but So-ra, you're waaay too irresistible _not_ to mess around with," Axel purred, ruffling Sora's already-messy chocolate locks.

"Yeah, well… well you can mess around with Roxas, not me," Sora sulked, utterly oblivious as to how it sounded as though he were giving his brother's (_very_ much interested) roommate permission to molest his twin. Axel gawked disbelievingly at the brunette before sending a glower in a snickering Riku's direction.

"So, Demyx?" Sora asked, glancing purposefully in the giggling musician's direction.

"I'm…I'm sorry, what were you saying, Sora?" Demyx managed to ask (with only a slight waver of laughter lacing his voice) while hiding his smile behind his nearly empty cup.

"Remember? I was _asking_ –_hic!_- what we're supposed to do –_hic!_- now," Sora reminded him impatiently.

"Oh yeah! Well, now you guys just, uh… go to class, I guess, and—uh…" Demyx looked uncomfortable for a moment before he leant over towards Zexion.

"Zexy, I can't remember what we did on our first day," Demyx admitted sheepishly. Zexion closed his eyes and stifled an exasperated yet amused sigh before focusing on the eager brunette.

"Your first day won't really be anything too special--_that_ I can guarantee you," Zexion began calmly, setting his cup of tea back on the table.

"The schedule for the first day of classes is simple, but it also depends on the teacher directing the class. You'll most likely just spend today introducing yourselves to your teachers and fellow classmates, but as Axel, Demyx and I have learned, some teachers have their… _eccentricities_," Zexion said at last, sharing a knowing look with the two other aforementioned students.

"And then you never know who might be running those electives you sign up for," Demyx chimed in delightedly, grinning at the puzzled look the freshmen now wore.

"Really? Like who?" Sora asked curiously.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll find out for yourselves soon enough," Axel replied, a hint of badly hidden glee in his voice. Sora merely shrugged, hiccupping softly as he looked about curiously.

"So, uh… does anyone know what time it is?"

X X X

"I can't _believe_ you, man!" Axel managed to wheeze out giddily between laborious gulps for air as the three students (or four depending if one chose to include a comatose body of a student) at last reached their destination.

Which, of course, had to be situated halfway across the campus.

"Shut _up_, Axel," Zexion replied curtly, sending an exasperated glare back toward the redhead struggling to keep up at their pace before decidedly grabbing _Demyx's_ wrist (not the other way around, for once) to pull his giggling, dirty-blonde best friend of thirteen years along even faster.

"Aw, c'mon, Zex—lemme have my fun! This has gotta be like, the one and _only_ time in history where _Zexion Nomura_ himself lost track of time and was actually almost late to class!" Axel cackled gleefully, stumbling and hurriedly righting himself as he nearly tripped with the additional weight on his back, which made it difficult to continue at the quick pace they were walking at.

"_Shit!_ How heavy can one small freshman _be?_ I _swear_ he wasn't this heavy ten seconds ago," Axel complained incredulously as he managed to catch up with his two other hurrying friends, shifting Roxas so that the (still sleeping) blonde was centered on his back and not hanging over further to one side than the other, throwing the pyromaniac off balance even more than necessary.

"I _know_, it's _amazing_--when he tackles ya, it's, like, totally _impossible_ to get up until he's good and ready to," Demyx laughed breathlessly, pulling his backpack back up onto his shoulder from where it had slipped down to dangle at his elbow.

"Here it is," Zexion broke in; his tone more relieved than he usually would have sounded as he made a sharp left in order to guide them towards a door labeled **777** in neat black numbers. The three stopped abruptly at the doorway, however, not even bothering to step all the way into the unfamiliar classroom.

"Umm… well, this… this is…different," Demyx piped up at last, gazing about the room with wide eyes.

It seemed the rest of the students already present in the classroom thought so as well, for nearly everyone was busy glancing about the room with interest.

The clear, white walls of last year had been crammed with posters. Some of them listed what must have been every single possible human emotion. Others depicted the brain, text on the right hand side explaining what each individual section controlled in the body.

Oh, and the room had been repainted with the darkest black imaginable ("black like the Devil's soul," Axel commented dryly as they dropped their bags by the last three empty seats situated towards the middle of the classroom).

"It seems as though our psychology professor has different tastes than what the last teacher who taught in this room did," Zexion added warily at last, sounding slightly taken aback himself. Then he abruptly turned on Axel, frowning as something that didn't fit properly in the picture finally clicked in his mind.

"Axel. You're still carrying Roxas."

Blink.

"Yeah, and?"

"He has first period Eng--"

"_Aw, __**fuck**__!"_ Axel hollered in his exasperation (his outburst causing many heads to turn towards them in surprise) before grabbing the freshman's bag from the floor. He dashed out the door with a string of angry curses, taking off back down the path that they'd just come; making sure to keep Roxas in a secure grip the whole while.

"I _do_ hope that wasn't one of this period's students," a new, silky voice murmured thoughtfully, breaking the awkward silence that had passed over the bewildered students (Zexion and Demyx shared a knowing glance for Axel's sake).

Everyone stared at their professor's unusual appearance, but he continued striding confidently to his place behind the desk at the front of the room, dropping a neat stack of papers on its surface before gracing his students with his piercing golden gaze at last.

"My name is Saïx de Lune, but you will call me Professor Saïx. And I will not by any means tolerate that type of foul language in my classroom. Have I made myself clear?" he demanded coolly, allowing a calm smile to play on his lips as most of the students nodded vigorously, sensing the underlying promise of pain in his authoritative voice if they were to object.

"Good. I'm glad we've come to an understanding. Now then, any other teacher in this school would have probably taken this first meeting as an opportunity to welcome you to the study of psychology, and explain just why the content that we'll be covering is of use to you in the real world. However, as this is _my_ class, I'll simply spend this period informing you of the criteria you'll need to follow in order to make it through this subject without failing."

And then suddenly, that calm smile seemed to be frighteningly predatory. From the corner of his eye, Zexion caught the panicked look that had taken residence on his best friend's face.

"I'll warn you that I _am_ a tough grader--quite possibly one of the toughest graders you'll ever experience. I have no room for suck-ups in this class. I do not want to hear any complaining of any sort from those who think I provide you with too much work. I despise whining. You will not receive credit for work handed in late--I do not believe in accepting late work. And above all, I do not tolerate slackers."

Slowly, Demyx angled his face to glance uneasily at Zexion.

It was going to be a _long_ year.

X X X

"My life is _over_."

"Demyx, don't be so dramatic--"

"Oh, you _know_ it's true, Zexy; I'm a _goner_," Demyx moaned helplessly, gazing mournfully up at the sky as he and an exasperated Zexion headed towards their next classes.

"I always only _barely_ manage to pass in classes where I'm terrified of the teacher, and that's only because of _you_," Demyx groaned, letting his head fall to rest against Zexion's shoulder.f

"Not that I'm not thankful, Zexion, but you know what I mean," Demyx grumbled, crossing his arms and pouting as he decided that the opportunity did indeed warrant a good sulk.

Zexion sighed, deciding that the best move was not to say anything at all for the time being, and allow the blonde musician to mope about his situation until he came to his senses himself.

"So what class do we have next?" Demyx mumbled, straightening himself up as they approached their classroom.

"Well, _you_ have math here this period, while I have AP history with Professor Yen Sid another flight up," Zexion replied, nodding his head slightly towards the door they had stopped in front of.

"I _hate_ math," Demyx grumbled, somehow managing to look even more downcast than he had before. Zexion frowned before reaching out to touch Demyx's shoulder gently.

"You'll be okay, Dem," he murmured softly; offering the sitarist a minute smile as he let his hand drop back down to his side, turning to head down the hall. After Zexion paused to turn back to bid the blonde goodbye with a wave, Demyx was left standing in front of his classroom, looking off in the direction the slate-haired teen had gone. He contented himself with the thought that he'd see his friend again at lunch as he pushed through the door—

Only to let out a cry of delight as he spotted, and instinctively raced towards, a familiar face.

"_Marly!"_ Demyx exclaimed, throwing his arms around the startled teen.

"_DemDem?_ So we actually _do _get to have a class together?" Marluxia asked, eyes wide in disbelief, as though the prospect was too good to be true.

"Looks like it!" Demyx grinned, immediately sitting down in the desk directly next to Marluxia's—suddenly grateful that Zexion had successfully gotten him to his next classroom before the seats had filled up, even while his friend had been wallowing in his self-pity.

He'd have to make sure to thank Zexion for that later.

In the meantime, though…

"So, d'ya remember who we have for math?" Demyx asked curiously, reaching into his pocket to slip out and unfold his crumpled schedule.

"No, I can't say that I do," Marluxia replied with a helpless shrug, leaning over to examine Demyx's schedule for himself.

"Let's see, uhh… psychology with--no… _huh_, how 'bout that."

"What?"

"Well I'm not really sure this is right, but if it is, then our math teacher this year is--"

"'Ello students," a familiar British accent greeted amiably—surprising Demyx so much that the blonde felt the need to point and splutter at their teacher's appearance.

"L-Lux…?" he asked in a small voice. The blonde man at the front of the room glanced calmly in his direction before offering him a small smile.

"Can I help you, Mr. Mizu?" he asked, aqua eyes sparkling as he repressed his laughter at the dazed look on Demyx's face.

"You never _told_ me you were going into a major in_ math!"_ Demyx declared, a wide, disbelieving grin slowly spreading across his lips.

"Well, Ducky, you never _asked_," Luxord replied easily before glancing about at his new students.

"Sorry there, mates--now that we've cleared things up a bit for Mr. Mizu here, we can get down to business. My name's Luxord Chance, but you can call me either Professor Chance or just Luxord; it merely depends on your preference," he informed pleasantly, crossing his arms and leaning back against his desk.

"If anyone is wondering as to why Mr. Mizu seems to be so shocked as to my position as your teacher, that can be attributed to the fact that I just graduated from this very college last year. However, I trust that some of you were already aware of this, albeit you managed to keep it to yourself," Luxord said, the ghosts of a smirk playing on his lips.

"But let's not dillydally any further; I think it'd be best if we got started," the blonde teacher declared as he glimpsed the clock. He pushed himself up from where he rested languidly against the front of his desk and, upon picking up a sheet of paper resting on its surface, he moved to the whiteboard behind him to copy something from the paper.

When he stepped away, Demyx blinked uncertainly before he leant forward to frown at the board—he could see Marluxia doing the same from the corner of his eye.

"Since we're not supposed to begin anything educational today, I thought it might be fun for us to place a little bet if you're interested," he suggested. At his words, an interested murmur spread across the room, Demyx and Marluxia exchanged an amused (but admittedly exasperated) glance, and a girl's hand immediately shot up.

"But Professor, isn't that illegal?" she asked dubiously.

"Oh, what the administration heads don't know won't hurt them," Luxord scoffed, waving his hands impatiently. With that said and done, the blonde man was all smiles again.

"Now… who wants to bet on the possibility of the Strife and Lionheart seniors ending up together by the end of this year?" he asked, glancing about knowingly.

There was a loud outburst of laughter and chatter at this, and almost immediately the math teacher found himself hastily copying down the proposed agreements and objections he was suddenly bombarded with onto the whiteboard, beneath the names "Cloud" and "Leon" respectively.

Demyx couldn't quite repress the wince that came with the sudden pang of sympathy he felt for his cousin.

X X X

"They bet on _what?_"

"Yeah, I know—it's funny, right? I mean, you would've thought that _Lux_ of all people would've remembered that Cloud's my relative when he chose him as the victim of his next major betting pool," Demyx said thoughtfully. Zexion looked mildly disgusted, having always detested Luxord's constant gambles. Axel, on the other hand, seemed to find the situation quite funny, if his steady laughter had anything to say anything about it.

"So, whose side was he on?" Axel blurted out, unable to contain his inquiry. Zexion shot the redhead a sharp glance, but Demyx seemed unaffected by his cousin's situation.

"He's pro-get-together," Demyx laughed, unconsciously tugging on a loose thread on the hem of his shirt as they walked.

"Damn, sucks to be him," Axel said, his words contrasting oddly with his cheerful tone and smirk.

"Hey, d'ya know if he's taking bets outside of your class?"

"_Axel Turk_," Zexion sighed irately, shaking his head at the exchange occurring beside him.

"Don't think so—sorry. We're not supposed to let it get out that the betting pool's even taking place," Demyx shrugged.

"Demyx, aren't you even a _little bit_ worried for Cloud's sake?" Zexion asked dubiously, sending a wary glance at the musician.

"Of course I am, Zexy!" Demyx replied, looking at the bluenette in surprise.

"But I'm also kinda worried about someone else…" he admitted, shoulders slumping forward slightly. Both Axel and Zexion turned to regard Demyx at the sudden change of demeanor.

"Who?" they asked simultaneously.

"Roxas."

"Really? Why?" Axel asked with a frown, oblivious to the slight shudder of accord that passed through the smaller student beside him.

"Ah, well… you see, Roxas doesn't take very well to his brothers getting picked on," Demyx explained. Axel merely blinked.

"Broth…_ers?_"

"Well yeah—Cloud's my cousin, remember?" this time it was Demyx's turn to blink.

"Whoa whoa whoa—hold up; d'ya mean to say that Roxas and Sora--"

"—Happen to be Cloud's younger twin brothers, yes, Axel. Congratulations on yet another _brilliant_ conclusion on your part," Zexion announced dryly.

"Shut up Emo Kid," Axel huffed crossly as he shot Zexion a glare, which Zexion returned with a withering stare of his own.

"But seriously Ax—you didn't notice the similarities between them?" Demyx asked, struggling to keep a straight face at his friend's output demeanor.

"Well, I guess Roxas _kinda_ looks like Cloud, but--"

"--Are you serious? They're practically identical, save the difference in their heights!--"

"--They really kind of _are_ Axel--"

"--I just take longer to make connections between these things, _okay?"_ Axel finally snapped, making a point of talking over his protesting company.

At this point, neither Demyx nor Zexion were able to contain their mirth, and Demyx simply stopped walking as he doubled over with laughter while Zexion stopped beside the overcome sitarist, bringing a hand up to cover his mouth in a vain attempt to hide his smile. Eventually even Axel himself couldn't continue to glare at his friends, and allowed a reluctant grin to play on his lips.

"Alright, alright--so sue me, I'm oblivious," Axel cried out, waving his arms dramatically for emphasis.

"He declares it as if we weren't already quite aware of the fact already," Zexion muttered, reaching down to help the still-giggling blonde to his feet.

"Hey! I heard that! I said oblivious—_not_ deaf," Axel repeated emphatically, shooting a playful glare in his friends' direction.

"Whatever you say, Axel," Demyx said happily, grinning brightly as he wiped tears of laughter from his eyes.

At last the three juniors reached the large cafeteria doors, and dropped (or in Zexion's case, placed) their bags along the wall to wait.

"So, anyone know what classes the others are coming from?" Demyx asked, looking pointedly at the Nomura.

"I believe they're all coming back from their chemistry class right now," Zexion answered as he made a small gesture, making Axel and Demyx turned to glace over their shoulders. Sure enough, the Strife twins and Riku were making their way towards the older students.

"Hey guys! How'd your first classes go?" Demyx asked eagerly, pouncing on the three even as they were coming to a stop.

"English was fine, but I can't believe I'm actually in the same chemistry class as _this_ idiot," Roxas immediately grumbled, nodding towards an affronted-looking Riku (who muttered something along the lines of "I resent that" under his breath).

"And how about you, Sora?" Demyx said, turning his attention to the bouncy brunette.

"It was really cool so far! Our first period class teacher is reaaaally nice—his name is, um, uh, Riku, what's his name?"

"It's Professor Lionheart, Sora."

"Right, Mr. Lionheart—"

"Wait—do you mean _Lexeaus_ Lionheart?" Zexion cut in suddenly, leaning forward in uncharacteristically obvious interest.

"Yeah, why?" Sora asked as he cocked his head. The ghost of a smile made itself evident on Zexion's lips

"Lexeaus happens to be a good friend of mine—he graduated three years ago, but while he was a senior and I was a freshman, we would do our own outside research together," Zexion replied, brushing back his bangs. Sora let out a loud "ooooh" in understanding before bursting into his story once more.

"But anyway, class today was _really_ funny--apparently the administration made some sort of mistake and accidentally placed his younger brother –his name's Hayner– in our class. So Hayner started boasting about how he was totally gonna breeze through the class and get an easy A since his brother's the teacher. And then Mr. Lionheart just calmly announced how he was expecting Hayner to turn in an essay on the importance of the role of big brothers by tomorrow!" Sora finished with a laugh—oblivious to the incredulous stares he was getting due to his utter lack of pauses for breath in the duration of his story.

"That sounds like Lexaeus," Zexion affirmed, his smile warming slightly at Sora's and Demyx's matching grins of enthusiasm. Really, it wasn't hard to grasp just how similar Sora and Demyx were.

"So, what are we gonna do for lunch today?" Axel asked, bending down to pick up his bag resting at his feet.

"Hmm, I dunno. What's everyone in the mood for?" Demyx chirped, looking around expectantly.

"I think it'd be best if _you_ guys chose where we go—we're not exactly familiar with this area yet," Riku recommended, crossing his arms leaning back to rest against the wall.

"That's a very good point!" Demyx declared cheerfully, before his demeanor changed to one of thoughtfulness.

"Um, well, I know what my cousins and I are always up for," Demyx began, beaming when Sora chimed in with a happy squeal of "sushi!" while Roxas settled for a shrug.

"Everyone okay with that?" Demyx asked.

"I wouldn't mind."

"Haven't had any of that good stuff in ages."

"I have no objections."

"Great--there's this really good place we go to just five minutes away!" Demyx clapped before bending over to grab his bag to hoist over his right shoulder.

"C'mon, let's go!"

And with that, the blonde took off running, thereby forcing his friends to follow quickly just to keep the excited musician within sight.

They finally caught up with the rather giddy sitarist at the front doors to the building.

"C'mon Sora, let's run ahead!" Demyx bubbled, extending an arm out to the brunette. Said cousin immediately sped towards the taller dirty blonde, taking the offered arm before the two eased into a moderately paced skip.

"Are you _sure_ you're not adopted from some totally different family?" Axel snickered to Roxas, easily brushing off the glower sent in his direction by the easily aggravated blonde.

"Shut up," Roxas grumbled, but his words didn't contain their usual biting tone.

Zexion stole a glance at the two as the redhead continued to playfully taunt the short blonde, his eyes softening in the slightest at the nearly imperceptible smile on Roxas' lips. True, it was admittedly difficult for anyone who hadn't grown up with the younger Strife twin to determine when he was smiling.

But if he wasn't mistaken, he was pretty sure Axel could tell.

They reached the aforementioned sushi bar in record time, due to Demyx's and Sora's persistent impatient claims that the others were much too slow.

Their complaints immediately set off a trend—one that might remind the viewer of the events of the results of toppling over the first tile in a line of dominos.

Hearing Sora's whines lead to an exasperated Riku increasing his pace to catch up to his best friend. Of course, Roxas couldn't bear having the silver-haired freshman closer to his twin than he himself was, and instantly hurried along himself, hot on Riku's heels. But how could Axel ever live with himself if he didn't constantly attempt to get as close to his "soul-mate" as possible? – thus resulting in the redhead suddenly breaking into a jog to catch up to the group.

Leaving a deserted Zexion – who, of course, had no intensions of increasing his pace. Demyx however had other plans, and quickly doubled back to drag the protesting bluenette to keep up with the rest.

Keeping these latest events in mind, the record-breaking amount of time spent walking over to their destination didn't seem all that far fetched.

There was a soft, merry tinkling sound as the action of opening the door set off the small chimes that hung just over the threshold.

"Window seat, yes!" Demyx cried out abruptly, very nearly tripping over himself in his excitement as he lunged for the rare space, the rest of the group (minus Sora, who was always happy to support his cousin's more spontaneous methods, and this time was no excuse) following along in a more resigned manner.

There were four chairs already situated at said table, so Axel and Riku made it their business to pull over two chairs from an empty table.

"Man I missed this place--we haven't been here in ages," Demyx remarked distractedly as his excited azure eyes darted about the small café.

"Well duh, Dem; it's not as if we regularly make it our business to visit our regular lunch spots when we're on summer break," Axel scoffed jokingly, leaning forward to rest his chin on his hand as he regarded the musician fondly.

"Shows what _you_ know; for your information, I was just here last week," Demyx shot back proudly.

Axel merely blinked.

"So… a week in Demyx time is considered _ages?_" Axel asked dubiously, a wry grin forming on his lips as Demyx hopelessly tried to explain what he'd meant when he'd thrown the aforementioned term about so carelessly.

"…You know what, just forget it. You make everything so complicated," Demyx finally huffed, folding his arms across his chest and pouting when Axel's chuckles grew into full fledged laughs.

"Could that possibly be Demyx that I hear whining?" An amused voice suddenly cut in so that everyone's attention was turned from the previously moping teen to the newcomer.

"Hey Tifa," Axel greeted, turning himself around in his chair until he was draped over the seat backwards. Tifa returned his greeting with a cheerful smile as she expertly whipped out her small notebook to take down their orders.

"So, what's it gonna be you guys, the usua—?" the brunette began casually before stopping short as she seemed to notice the three strangers seated at the table staring at her. She blinked, glancing between them and her three friends, a slow smile forming on her lips.

"Related?" She asked expectantly, moving her hands between them in some sort of vague motion that must have made sense to her in some way it didn't to her guests. Demyx and Zexion both nodded, albeit with different attitudes.

Zexion sat back, allowing whatever tension he felt to melt away as his best friend Tifa leant back against the wall with a grin, listening intently as Demyx went into a rather longwinded explanation about how they were all related.

As he silently regarded the blabbering sitarist, his mind began to wander from the topic of their conversation, having already heard this very discussion a good few times throughout the duration of the past day and a half.

Without anything else to focus on, he helplessly gazed at the blonde musician, snippets of his dream from the night before rose, unbidden, from the back of his consciousness.

He blinked slowly, contemplating the remembered fragments. What had it been about? He rarely remembered his dreams, and when he did, the contents weren't at all varied.

After all, dreams are a reflection of one's deepest desires. And there was really only one thing Zexion ever truly yearned for.

He tilted his head down as he scowled slightly at himself when he felt heat rise to his cheeks upon abruptly remembering those familiar blue eyes of the focus in his dream.

Shit. Maybe having Demyx as a roommate again this year just might be a drawback at nighttime.

His flush deepened as he recalled that positively humiliating situation during sophomore year, and prayed to whatever humane God there was that Demyx would both remain a deep sleeper and continue to religiously wake up after Zexion, so that there wouldn't be another embarrassing morning this year.

He wasn't quite sure just how much longer he could convince Demyx that no, he was never vocal in his sleep—"and in any case, let's be realistic Demyx; whatever ridiculous circumstance could there be in a dream where I was moaning _your_ name?"

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Jessie: Oooh, I just _love_ those awkward moments…

Joh: Aw, Jessie, you're so silly!!

Jessie: …Maybe…

Joh: No… definitely.

Jessie: **Grins **I love you!

Joh: I love you too! **Glomps**

Jessie: **Snuggles **So I hope everyone is still enjoying themselves reading this at least _half_ as much as I enjoy writing it! Don't hesitate to suggest some silly twists and turns you might like to see added to the madness!

**Edit: **Gah! I can't believe I nearly missed out on one of my faaavorite parts of my multi chapter fics; the review responses! Now, I'm ready to go a _bit_ earlier than everyone else, so I'll see if I can quickly squeeze this in before I leave!

Kiki Lelsissia: Roxas + anger problems + PYBS (Protective Younger Brother Syndrome) + Sora-obsessed!Riku HILLARIOUS to read AND to write, let me tell you now! Yeah; I'm trying (_trying, _mind you) to make my chapters longer than shorter, so that means I need more time to write them. So you guys win that you get long chapters...and _I_ win that I (hopefully) get my readers to (willingly) give me more time to _write_. ...And upon quickly re-reading what I just wrote--no, that was _not_ actually meant to sound that desperate...

Eoin: Thank you **Goes off to die of embarrassment **But...but I was rushingforYOU!

IshizuWolfRider: I'm _so_ happy you like what I have to offer so far; you're one of my favorite people on FF...always reading **and**, more significantly **also reviewing** what I write! **Gives you a cookie made with much love** And as for your inquiry--I'm pretty sure I'll take that last option, and see where the _heck_ I'm going with this first.

Yumie-darkness1233: Thank you for your lovely donation of java cookies; they went towards a lovely cause; the inspiration to push on and write, write, WRITE! I'm glad you loves it, I loves you for reviewing!

Lady Taylor: I'm actually quite relieved that you find this funny; that means that there's still some slight chance that I have the ability to make others laugh with whatever sense of humor I have!

Anya Urameshi: I'm glad to have met your approval!

TheKabbageKat: Amazing?! _Superb?! _The first chapter? You _really_ know how to make someone's day! I especially appreciate your comment about my character portrayal, as that's one of the things I think about the most while writing, so thank you so much for your support.

Kaoru Gal: I LOVE YOU SWEETIE! And I always, _always_ love getting to your reviews! They always make me smile and laugh, and this time was no different! **Kisses** Thank you for your help and for being the best twiny EVER!

Mitsuru Aki: Thank you _SO MUCH _for the "take your time" comment. That means a LOT. Slight correction in your review; AkuRoku _is_ cannon. **Grins** C'mon--a _Nobody_ admitting someone makes them feels as though they have a heart? Yeah, I'm convinced. Thank you for the comment regarding my character personas; I work really hard to make that happen. Your review is much appreciated!

Demon's Sinner: Too _right_ all your favorite character pairings are here--if you enjoy all of these pairings as well...just...rock on, dude. Rock. On. And yet, there shall be MORE!

i-see-faeries: Lemme get this straight. _This_ reminded you a bit of S.G.W? One of the most amazing Kingdom Hearts stories ever to be written? That...actually has to be one of, if not _the,_ biggest compliments ever **Laughs** To have a story compared to the lovely Dual's? Oh my God, you're too kind! I guess I can see what you're talking about, though, what with the Riku-hating and all... in any case, much thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying it, and I hope you enjoy my future updates as well!

**_Please Review _**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Kingdom Hearts… but I have every intention of owning the next two games, _Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days_ and _Kingdom Hearts: Coded_ when they are released this winter!

Joh: And since when did _you_ find out about their release dates?

Jessie: Since I happened to stumble across a bunch of extremely informative interviews/websites last night

Joh: …Wow, Jessie…

Jessie: Yup.

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**XXX**

**X**

Is there really any easy way to go about telling your best friend of who-knows-how-many-years that you're head over heels in love with them?

Anyone? Anyone at all?

No, I didn't think so.

Honestly, I don't understand just how the hell Zexion expects me to march on up to Sora and confess my feelings to him. What am I supposed to say? "Hey there, Sora, lovely day we're having, isn't it? Oh, and by the way, I've been having rather erotic sexual fantasies about you since the beginning of junior high. I hope you're cool with that. Wanna spend study hall together?"

Yeah, _that's_ not awkward.

And it's not as if it were intentional, you know. God only knows how utterly inconvenient it was for me to fall for Sora--_Sora_ of all people!

I mean, _hello_—Roxas' number one arch-nemesis, right here.

I can't believe he's still holding that grudge from the time I broke his and Sora's stupid sandcastle. How much more immature can you get?

Hah… The Castle That _Never_ Was… I've got to admit, Zexion always _did_ have a gift for coming up with the wittiest names for the perfect circumstances.

But… Sora and I… we've had some pretty wild times together. Not the kind of "wild" I fantasize about (just about every night), but awesome enough. Like the time his family invited me to stay with them at Sora's cousin Rikku's house in Destiny Islands, and he brought me to the play island. Geez, some of the games we came up with back then… I don't think I'd ever smiled so much in my life before Sora.

You see, my family isn't exactly the "loving" kind. Zexion was never exactly the most amiable big brother there's ever been; I hope at least _that_ much is obvious. Then there's Paine. There's nothing wrong with her... by _my_ family's terms. She's always out—or, on the rare occasion she _is_ home, she locks herself up in her bedroom and gets tied up with one of her religious three-way phone calls with Rikku and Yuna until deep into odd hours of the morning when _no living soul_ should be up.

And trust me; you do _not_ want to interrupt her phone calls.

There was this one time when I was twelve, and… well, it involved a hairdryer, a girdle, a bag of tiddlywinks and a _hell_ of a lot of screaming--but yeah; I guess you probably don't want to hear about that. Believe you me, it was _gruesome_.

And as if my siblings aren't enough trouble (or, lack thereof) my parents are the constantly-traveling-for-work kind, so they're almost never around—never were. They put Paine in charge as soon as she turned eighteen; after that they were absent more than ever.

I've never really blamed them for being absent so much. On the rare occasion when they _are_ home for a few days, they set aside that time to catch up with us. And when they're off on their business trips, it's not as if they never call; they make sure to check up on us on a weekly basis.

I know they love us—they just made the decision to work constantly in order to be sure that they make the money they need to guarantee that their kids will always be able to afford the best of everything; y'know, like the best education, the best clothes, the best and latest technology…

And I am _damn_ jealous of Zexion; I can't _believe_ they bought him a fucking _Mercedes Benz_ for his nineteenth birthday! And just because he wanted to wait another year after they offered him one for his eighteenth birthday; hell, _I_ would've waited until _my_ nineteenth birthday if I knew I could've gotten a Mercedes; and now I'm stuck with my Maybach…

Eh, but I guess I shouldn't complain… at least I have my own car. The twins have to share the car they got for their birthday; the plus side there is that Sora hardly ever drives, seeing as he's prone to being teased about the rather touchy subject of his having to retake his driving exam five times before he passed if he so much as glances at the steering wheel.

And _damn_ if it wasn't fun to tease Sora with being able to both drive _and_ own such a nice car for the year I had on him before he got _his_ license (fifth time's the charm).

…Sora…

Alright, so the first four years of my life as a child were admittedly lonely.

So what? I've got Sora now, and that's what matters. Funny, cheerful, wonderful, _beautiful_ Sora Strife.

What more could I possibly want?

**X**

**XXX **

**XXXXX**

**XXXXXXXXX**

**▪▫ ∫Chapter Three∫ ▫▪**

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**XXXXX**

**XXX**

**X**

_**Hot**_.

Everything was just so _god damn hot_--the very air felt as though it was scalding, and pressed down on him from all sides. And meanwhile, _he_ felt as though he himself was burning up…

But _nothing_ compared to the heat of Demyx's mouth pressing wet open mouthed kisses to his chest.

"D-Demyx…ngh--w-wha…?" Zexion managed to gasp before he was silenced when those lips moved up from where they were busy littering his collar bone with loving nips and kisses to meet his own.

Zexion's mind spun wildly as barely coherent thoughts flashed in his head, and his state of mind was reflected in his body as he shuddered helplessly beneath the blonde, unable to move as he was overwhelmed with sensation. Really--how could he _ever_ have expected to wake up to such unexpected minstrations from his blonde best friend?

A soft groan escaped his lips when Demyx's mouth left his, and his eyes fluttered open—_when did they close?—_to gaze into Demyx's smiling ocean eyes, half lidded in a lusty haze.

"Zexion…" the musician murmured in that melodious voice of his as he reached out to sweep his roommate's bangs from his eyes—blushing adorably and looking pleased with himself when he glimpsed both of Zexion's eyes before his long hair fell back into place.

Demyx shakily placed both of his hands on either side of Zexion, pushing himself off and of the scholar's body with an alluring grace he never knew Demyx capable of before arching his back so that their hips grinded together.

Zexion hissed sharply at the nearly painful pleasure and his fingers fisted in the bed sheets—his grip only tightening when Demyx let out a delicious moan as well.

He squirmed slightly when Demyx's slender fingers began trailing his down his sides playfully; the strange contrast of the smooth sensation of Demyx's fingers as opposed to his calloused fingertips sending thrills up his spine.

One of Demyx's wandering hands suddenly snatched out to grab Zexion's wrist, and with a flush the blonde placed his friend's trembling fingers at his lips to take them into his mouth, licking at them languidly. Azure orbs were hidden from view as Demyx lowered his eyes in a vain attempt to will his blush away.

"Demyx, wha--?" Zexion tried again but once more trailed off, his eyes dilating slightly as he experienced the incredibly intense heat of Demyx's mouth once more, along with the more-than-slightly erotic show Demyx was putting on for him.

So it was no wonder than he was completely oblivious as to the whereabouts of Demyx's other hand.

That is, until he felt those same, roguish fingers wrap around his arousal.

The incoherent thoughts that had been jumbling erratically in his head stopped abruptly as pleasure crashed over him like a wave, and he threw his head back as he bit his lip, fighting back a groan as Demyx began to slide his fingers up and down. The _last_ thing Zexion wanted to do was arouse the suspicion of their neighbors in the next dorm over, which could possibly lead to the interruption of this midnight surprise.

The moan managed to escape, however, along with a shocked, broken sounding _"Demyx!"_ when the blonde brought the fingers he had previously been sucking on to the small of his back—slowly trailing them lower and lower, until--

"N-ngh, Z-Zexi…ahhn," Demyx breathed, his breath hitching painfully as he impaled himself on Zexion's fingers, somehow managing to continue pumping his hand at his chosen rhythm, which grew constantly faster, his expression changing to one of pain when he lifted himself before sliding back down. It only took three or four more repeats of this action before Demyx suddenly shivered, his eyes clouding in ecstasy as he hastened to repeat the action, moaning Zexion's name like a mantra

And then everything started spinning, and Zexion could only close his eyes and shudder as everything suddenly grew faster, faster, fasterfaster_faster--_

X X X

Zexion woke with a name on his lips, sitting up sharply only to find himself drenched in a cold sweat, shrouded in a silence that was absolutely deafening when compared to the dream that he'd just been having.

Closing his eyes, he forced himself to take a deep breath and hold it in, waiting a good few seconds before shakily letting it out.

He managed to catch his breath quickly after that, and when he had, he let his face drop into his hands, glancing from the corner of his eye to catch a blurry glimpse of the time.

_2:14_

Great, so now he was already having one of _those_ problems not even one week into the school year?

Damn it.

Zexion cast his wary, albeit tired gaze across the room; relief flooding over him like a wave when he saw Demyx's still figure sprawled across his bed—and now that his heart was no longer pounding in his ears, he could make out Demyx's soft breathing, deep and even in sleep, in the nighttime quiet.

Shakily, he pushed himself up and out of bed and onto his feet, where he was forced to pause as a shudder ran along his spine.

He bit his lip in a rare moment of hesitation as he glanced between the bathroom door and the sleeping blonde before he let out a soft sigh upon coming to a decision, praying that the sound of the shower wouldn't wake his roommate as he shuffled through his dresser drawer for a clean set of sleepwear.

He was almost certain it wouldn't, however--seeing as he had to practically shove his best friend out of bed after he was finished with the bathroom in the morning on a daily basis.

Silently, Zexion opened and closed the door, setting his new clothes aside on the bathroom counter before turning to the shower.

And again he paused as he realized that he had to come to yet another decision--this one much harder than the last.

For a full three agonizing minutes the bluenette stood there, regarding the showerhead resting on the wall above the bathtub grimly before at last bending down to turn the water all the way to cold.

It wouldn't do, he figured as he stepped beneath the stream—shivering violently at the sensation of the frigid water on his hot skin, to feel guilty every time he saw Demyx that day for having fantasized about him in the shower that very morning.

Zexion closed his eyes and abruptly lashed out at the tile wall with a fist, relishing the brief, distracting pain that shot up his arm.

"Demyx… _Demyx_…"

X X X

"The hell have you two been?" Roxas greeted as Sora and Riku at last completed the group at their usual table.

Fifteen minutes late.

"And what the fuck happened to you, Riku? Sorry to disappoint you, but the wet tee-shirt competition isn't until June," Axel drawled, grinning wickedly from where he balanced precariously on the back two legs of his chair.

"Shut up, Axel," Riku snapped, flushing angrily when Sora fell into a fit of hysterics beside his best friend.

"We're running late because _Sora_ deemed it a great day to be a bitch to wake up. After trying for five minutes straight, I gave up on him for the time being and decided to jump into the shower first. So I finish getting dressed, and just as I'm about to open the door to leave, Sora comes bolting in looking for me, and pushes me into the bathtub--which, of course, is still wet. We were already running late, so I had no time to change. My wearing a white tee-shirt was completely unintentional, I _assure_ you," Riku explained in a poisonous tone, sending a glower to Sora's twin when he realized that Roxas was nearly crying with the effort of containing his laughter by the time he was done.

"'m sorry, Riku," Sora said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head as he grinned nervously at his silver-haired friend in hopes of placating him.

"Sora, you've apologized fifteen times already--"

"--No, that was sixteen," Sora put in helpfully.

"…Okay, _sixteen_ times already; and for the _sixteenth_ time, its _fine_—its just water, it'll dry," Riku replied, offering the brunette one of his infamous smiles.

"Aw, thanks Riku; you're the best friend anyone could ever ask for!" Sora bubbled, throwing his arms around Riku in a dramatic embrace before plopping down beside his twin grinning.

Riku flushed.

Zexion smirked.

Roxas twitched.

Sora remained oblivious as ever, having already started a lively conversation with an amused Axel.

"Good morning, Roxas!"

Roxas glanced over his shoulder to see who it was who'd greeted him.

"Oh, hey there, Olette," he replied, returning her smile before shifting his chair so that he could more easily face her.

The remaining occupants of the table stopped whatever it was they were in the midst of to see the newcomer. They were rewarded with the view of a sweet-looking brunette girl dressed in an orange tank top printed with white flowers and beige cargo pants.

"Hey, Rox, who's this?" Sora asked, ever eager to make new friends. Roxas' eyes darted to his twin before coming to rest once more on Olette.

"This is Olette…ah,

"Gullwing," she finished pleasantly.

"Right—sorry 'bout that—Olette Gullwing. She's in some of my AP's," he explained before gesturing vaguely to Sora.

"Olette, this is Sora, my twin brother I was telling you about," he started, blinking in surprise when she leant suddenly closer, examining his features thoroughly before glancing back curiously at his brother.

"It's definitely the eyes," she confirmed, bringing smiles to both Sora's and Roxas' faces (widening, in Sora's case).

"That's what they all say," Sora laughed, crossing his arms behind his head easily.

"Anyway, that's Axel, my roommate," Roxas said, nodding towards the redhead. Axel nodded once in acknowledgement, but said nothing more as he averted his suddenly cool gaze. Zexion and Demyx exchanged mildly surprised glances; it wasn't like the pyromaniac not to make a show when meeting new people.

Roxas seemed to sense this as well, despite only having known the junior for a week, but continued on with his introductions, albeit with a look of slight bemusement.

"Ah—right, the pompous, wet jerk across from me is Riku--he's Zexion's younger brother (that's Zexion right over there). And finally, that's Demyx, my cousin, self-proclaimed master sitarist," he finished, blatantly ignoring the indignant glare Riku was busy boring into his back.

"You wouldn't happen to have an older sister named Yuna, would you?" Zexion piped up abruptly. All at once, the angered expression on Riku's features was replaced with one of recognition. The small brunette looked slightly taken aback, but nodded nonetheless.

"Uh—yes, I do actually. How do you know my sis?" Olette asked curiously, absentmindedly brushing back a stray lock of hair.

"I do believe Yuna is well acquainted with our older sister, Paine," Zexion replied with a small smile.

"Oh, Paine? Right, so you're… 'kay, that would make a lot of sense," Olette agreed with a giggle.

"Geez, Olette! You said you were just gonna stop by that kid's table for a sec to say hi—not that you were gonna ditch us for them."

Olette sighed playfully as she turned to face the sporty-looking boy who had walked up behind her to make the accusation.

"Can't you be patient for five minutes, Hayner?" she asked exasperatedly, looking more amused than irritated.

"Psh—five minutes; _please_, it's been more like five years," he shot back, but his eyes were twinkling with good humor.

"I'm sorry, Olette--I tried to stop him, but it was no use. You know how he gets when he's not constantly included," a second, plumper boy informed her from where he stood behind the now-scowling "Hayner," grinning broadly.

"Hiya, Hayner!" Sora exclaimed brightly, having looked up upon recognizing his classmate's name.

Hayner's gaze traveled from his giggling friends to the beaming Strife, and his eyes softened.

"Heeey, Sora! What's up, man?" Hayner asked, taking in the faces that surrounded his new friend.

"Not much—we're just about to grab a bite to eat all together before classes start," Sora informed the dirty-blonde teen before his eyes lit up with excitement.

"Oh yeah! I wanna to introduce you to my brother, Roxas," Sora began; the younger twin looking up as his name was brought up into the conversation.

"Hey Rox, this guy's the biggest die-hard Struggle fan I know aside from you," Sora said, his eager grin only broadening at his brother's eyes lit up in a way they only did when his favorite sport was brought up into a conversation.

"Do you play?" Roxas demanded, leaning forward intently.

"Does he _ever_; it's all he ever talks about," the second friend scoffed.

"That's a lie, and you _know_ it, Pence; I also happen to obsess over video games," Hayner corrected smugly, looking pleased with himself at the chance to stand up for himself. Pence merely shook his head at Hayner's antics, grinning.

"C'mon, Olette, let's _go_ already—the café's gonna run out of bagels if we don't leave soon," Hayner whined suddenly upon turning on the girl, shuffling impatiently.

Olette made a face at Hayner before sending one last apologetic glance toward Roxas and his friends.

"I've gotta go for now--I'll see you around, Roxas," she smiled before hurrying off after Hayner and Pence, who had already wandered off towards their favorite café.

"What's this—is our little Roxas actually making friends on his own?" Sora teased, leaning forward to rest his chin on the palm of his hand as he regarded his twin. The slight smile that had managed to play on Roxas' lips throughout the conversation was immediately replaced with his usual scowl as he glared at his older brother.

"Shut up," he deadpanned, slumping forward to rest his head on his folded arms, yet his eyes flicked towards his unusually quiet roommate. He seemed to wage a ten second internal struggle with himself, before letting out a loud, exasperated breath and lifting his head to fully look towards Axel.

"What's with you, Axel? Just now… that wasn't like you," he mumbled, gazing at the junior with an emotion that, had it been anyone else, would undoubtedly be classified as something akin to concern.

Axel turned his head to stare at Roxas, obviously taken aback at the blonde's, albeit mild, expression of concern.

"I-it's nothing, Roxy, just forget it," Axel hastened to stammer, offering the blonde a (pleasantly) surprised grin.

"Is someone perhaps feeling a tad jealous, Axel?" Zexion murmured, lifting a hand to lazily hide his growing smile. Axel sent an icy stare towards his fellow junior for a long moment, before the corners of his lips curled into a knowing smirk of his own.

"No more than you are of MarMar whenever he's around our darling _Waterboy_, Zexy," Axel countered just as quietly, a smirk quirking the corners of his mouth upwards at the way Zexion's eyes widened a near imperceptible fraction.

"…And you've known this for _how_ long, exactly?" Zexion managed at last, but only after a good few seconds had passed in which he had seemed to be at a loss for words before regaining his composure.

"_Ha!_ Are you kidding me? Since the first time I saw you with Dem, when he was introducing us; the eyes _are_ known as the windows of the soul, you know," Axel purred. Zexion's intense gaze hardened further with each word that left Axel's lips.

"If you tell _anyone_, Axel--"

"Zexion, what happened to your hand?" Demyx asked suddenly, snatching Zexion's wrist before the bluenette could even react so that he could bring it closer to his face to further examine it. Zexion's breath caught on the sharp gasp that he very narrowly managed to catch as said love interest suddenly broke into his and Axel's conversation.

"It's nothing, Demyx," Zexion hastened to reply as he pulled his wrist back from the musician's grasp, flinching when he realized he'd sounded more forceful than he would have liked and Demyx's concerned expression turned to one of slight hurt.

"But your knuckles are all bruised…" the blonde trailed off, his eyes flickering briefly between Zexion's injured hand and face. Zexion sighed silently, a small reluctant smile coming to his lips as he gazed at Demyx.

"It's really nothing, Dem. It's just the result of a mishap in the shower this morning; I… knocked my hand against the wall. It was a rather idiotic blunder on my part, and it's really nothing for you to worry about," he chastised softly, reached forward to bop the musician playfully on the nose.

"So stop worrying, okay?" he asked, his usual blasé expression taking over his features once more as he pulled back—however his eyes remained sincere as he continued to look expectantly at his best friend.

"Oh, all right Zexy--but I'm only getting off your case because I know you're so responsible," Demyx replied lightheartedly, winking at Zexion before turning his focus to coming to a mildly panicked Sora's aid and trying to pull him out of the midst of whatever argument Roxas and Riku had fallen into within the last few minutes when his attention had been elsewhere.

Zexion continued to stare absentmindedly at the sitarist for the following few minutes, tensing in surprise when he felt a poke at his waist. He glanced to his side, only to frown at an amused-looking Axel.

"What?"

"There you go again," Axel sang softly yet gleefully.

But to the redheaded junior's disappointment, he was not, in fact, rewarded with the expected flush of embarrassment or angry retort –perhaps a two-in-one package if he was lucky– but a blank stare.

"What on earth are you talking about?" Zexion asked tonelessly, already loosing interest in whatever conversation Axel had apparently hoped to engage him in and bending down to retrieve the book he was currently reading from his bag which rested neatly by his feet.

"…You _do_ know that you get this distant look in your eye whenever you look at your little songbird, right?"

A slow, disbelieving smirk rose to Axel's lips as Zexion froze, his book halfway out of his bag.

"Well, now that I've seemed to have enlightened you as to the existence of your little habit, I _do_ hope you'll find the time to catch a glimpse of your eyes in the mirror the next time it happens--so that you'll be able to see just _how_ sickeningly obvious it is that you're in love with him when one's looking in the right place," Axel finished pleasantly before hoisting himself from his seat with a languid stretch that caught everyone's attention.

"So, anyone got the time?" Axel asked jokingly even as he sent the expected glance toward the eldest Nomura sitting beside him—yet Zexion remained silent, staring off into space.

"Yo… Zexion!" Axel tried again, nudging the stock-still scholar softly; narrowed jade orbs eyeing him with what appeared to the untrained eye to be mild concern.

"The time..? Oh--sorry; it's… it's five after nine just now; we'd best be getting on our way," Zexion managed with only the slightest tremor evident in his voice, bending down quickly to hastily pack his book (which was still sticking halfway out) the rest of the way into his bag before closing it and slipping his pack onto his shoulder.

As everyone at the table followed suit and began suggesting possibilities for lunch that day, Zexion turned away from the table, closing his eyes and breathing deeply as he willed his composure to return to him.

However, he was brought out of his desperate reverie when a familiar hand—_the strange contrast of the smooth sensation of Demyx's fingers as opposed to his calloused fingertips sent tingles up his sides_—caught his wrist and gently turned him until he came face to face with concerned azure eyes—_half lidded in a lusty haze_—which regarded him anxiously.

"Are you sure you're alright, Zexion? And don't lie--I'm serious," Demyx added to his question as an afterthought, having been caught off guard with Zexion's behavior this morning. There had been before with his irate snapping (which, if it ever occurred, was usually reserved for Riku) and Zexion was stunning the blonde for a second time with the surprisingly genuine disturbed expression he wore now. That was twice in one day already, and it was only nine 'o six in the morning.

Really, Zexion couldn't possibly get any more out of character.

"What did I tell you already, Demyx? Look-- I'll be alright, I promise; I'm just having an off day, is all," Zexion replied, his features automatically schooling themselves into a mildly exasperated expression at the reiterated question.

Demyx continued to look at Zexion anxiously but gave a reluctant nod despite himself to show that he accepted Zexion's word before tearing his eyes away as he moved to sidle past Sora to retrieve his bag from where he'd stowed it under his chair.

Once ready to go, Demyx hurried back over to where Zexion stood, motioning impatiently for his friend to follow.

"C'mon, Zexy—we've got English together now," Demyx said excitedly, tugging briefly on the Nomura's long sleeve before starting off in the direction of said class.

Zexion caught up to the mulleted blonde and easily fell into stride with him, nodding absently every so often as the musician chattered away about some new favorite song of his he was working on or another.

They came upon their destination (room **555**) more quickly than they expected; to the point where Zexion had to physically pull his friend to a stop when he continued to keep walking, rambling on incessantly. Demyx let out an undignified squawk of surprise as he nearly fell.

"Geez, Zexy, why'd you sto—"

"Demyx. We're here," Zexion interrupted smoothly before turning to open the door.

A rare smile quirked the corners of the slate-haired student's mouth upwards as his eyes met a familiar, kind gaze.

"Good morning, Lexeaus," Zexion greeted softly, approaching the professor.

"Hello, Zexion. It's good to see you again after all this time," the man replied quietly yet affectionately; his soft voice contrasting dramatically with his extremely large stature.

Demyx's greeting, on the other hand, was much more dramatic; for upon sighting just who it was that would be teaching his favorite academic class for the year, the easily-excited teenager launched himself at the gentle giant with an ecstatic cry of "Lexy!"

Lexeaus' small smile grew slightly as he caught the blonde with ease, offering him a soft, affectionate squeeze.

"It's good to see you too, Demyx," he chuckled, smiling fondly at the slender teen who, as soon as he was released, bounded back into the classroom to take a seat, motioning eagerly for Zexion to follow suit.

Zexion lifted a hand slightly in response, alerting the blonde that he would be over momentarily.

"Do correct me if I'm wrong, but is what I heard about a mishap concerning Hayner's English schedule true?" Zexion asked, a hint of amusement lacing his words. Lexeaus' initial response was a mere groan and a hand coming to cover his eyes wearily.

"Zexion, I'm not quite sure just what it was I did to deserve this," he replied jadedly, earning a soft chuckle from the student.

"_Zexy!"_

Both Lexeaus and Zexion looked up at the impatient cry; only to see Demyx waving madly at Zexion to come sit down beside him.

Lexeaus permitted a small smirk to spread across his lips as he watched Zexion shake his head exasperatedly at his best friend's childish behavior before moving to take a step forward.

Zexion blinked and paused, however, when a large hand clasped his shoulder.

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say that no—you have not, in fact, confessed to Demyx yet, have you?" Lexeaus murmured into his ear conspiratorially. At these blunt words Zexion's lips parted in shock, and he whirled on the smirking brunette, staring at him disbelievingly as a deep flush rose to his cheeks.

"I thought that that _specific subject_ was one which we promised not to speak of on school campus, _Lexeaus_," Zexion ground out between gritted teeth.

Lexeaus merely smiled knowingly.

"That was nearly three years ago, Zexion--and before I realized that you did not intend to take control of your own love life," he replied slowly, his eyebrows drawing together into a faint frown.

"_Lexeaus,_" Zexion hissed, his tone not unlike venom.

Satisfied he had successfully pushed Zexion to the extent of his patience, Lexeaus' almost playful demeanor changed almost instantaneously to one that reflected his natural peacefulness.

"Now get to your seat, Mr. Nomura—class is about to start, and I don't think that Mr. Mizu can bear the absence of your presence any longer," the teacher said smoothly, tactfully changing the subject as he gently patting Zexion the shoulder before shoeing him away so that he could start the class.

Fuming, Zexion stalked to his seat from the front of the room; dropping his books onto the surface of the desk beside Demyx a little more loudly than he would have on any other given day before taking a seat.

"Sooo? How was reminiscing with Lexy?" Demyx pressed, curious as to what his two friends had been talking about for so long.

"It was marvelous," Zexion replied flatly, angling his head slightly so that his face was obscured from the blonde's point of view as he vented by the means of sending the tabletop a withering glare.

Boy, if looks could kill…

"Good morning, students," Lexeaus began; and although he was only just heard over the casual chatter in the room, he managed to gather everyone's attention at once.

"I'd like to start by welcoming you all to AP English. Since today is our first class, I thought it would be best if we were to spend the class time we have today discussing this year's curriculum and introduce the selected book for the first quarter of this year's study," Lexeaus he continued, a small smile playing on his lips as he glanced about easily.

As the brunette teacher went on, Zexion found himself stealing subtle, sidelong glances at the blonde beside him, sitting upright and eagerly in his seat now that he was to be in his best academic subject for the next fifty minutes.

Confess to Demyx… just like that? Please. Didn't Lexeaus –_Lexeaus_ of all people– know just how much the musician meant to him? Didn't he realize, in the heartbreaking event that Demyx did not take the news lightly, what he would lose?

X X X

"Can you actually _believe_ this, Zexy? Out of all the books in the _whole wide world_, out of _all_ the plays William Shakespeare _ever_ wrote, Lexy--"

"--Professor Leonheart, Demyx, Professor Leonheart--"

"--Chose my absolute _favorite_, _A Midsummer Night's Dream?_" Demyx rambled right on excitedly, as if he hadn't been interrupted.

"Maybe he did it for me!" Demyx suggested with a giggle. Zexion resisted the urge to roll his eyes, and chose to send the musician an amused glance.

"…Maybe," he settled on at last, in response to those hopeful ocean eyes staring his way. Demyx offered him one of the brightest grins he could muster before launching into song (some strange rendition of _The Nightmare Before Christmas_' "What's This?") as they walked, thereby ending that train of conversation.

Zexion let out a slow sigh, sending an icy stare to anyone whose eyes lingered on the odd couple (his eyes softened the slightest bit at the wistful thought of people considering them a couple) walking down the hallway; the silent, serious student walking in step with the happy-go-lucky blonde musician.

They came to a stop at Zexion's classroom door and bid each other goodbye, Demyx wishing him luck in his elective—some AP physics class or another with Professor Cid Highwind, infamous for his longwinded speeches filled chock full of expletives and all round gruff manner.

In a rare moment of expression, Zexion let out a despairing groan before disappearing through the door.

"Good morning, Demyx," a soft voice spoke up pleasantly as Demyx lingered by the door his best friend had gone through, and he turned his head to see Naminé smiling at him, her ever-present sketchbook clutched to her chest protectively.

"Hey there, Nam, what's up?" he grinned, fingers unconsciously fiddling with the dangling wire of his headphones.

"Nothing much…I was just heading to the art studio for my elective," she replied softly.

"That's cool. I've got…uh…" here the blonde musician paused abruptly, offering an apologetic smile as he hastened to retrieve his folded schedule from his pants pocket.

"Wait for it…" he laughed sheepishly (earning a light giggle from Naminé) as he nimbly unfolded the already-battered itinerary and scanned it before his features brightened in recognition.

"Well, it looks like we're headed to the same place," he informed the petite blonde as he folded his schedule once more, slipping it back into his pocket before they slipped into a comfortable pace.

"I really hope that we have a nice teacher this year," Naminé said anxiously, turning her innocent blue gaze to the older artist.

"A nice teach… oh, trust me on this one; you won't worry about _that_. I actually signed up for this specific art period _for_ the teacher—Miss Gainsborough is really nice. I've had her for the past two years, and she's my absolute favorite teacher of all. You won't find anyone nicer than her," Demyx reassured the girl earnestly. Naminé looked somewhat taken aback at Demyx's ardent ramble (but to be fair, Demyx's rambles had that affect on anyone, seeing as the sitarist had the uncanny ability to chatter on for a ridiculously long time without stopping to breathe—much like Sora), but her kind smile quickly returned.

"Thank you, Demyx…you always know just what to say," Naminé murmured, reaching out to gently touch Demyx's wrist. Demyx laughed at that and returned the gesture with a one-armed hug. He was about to reply when, out of the blue, he was abruptly shoved backwards--very nearly tumbling to the ground. But he was back upright in a flash; held up by the collar by an angry, scowling Seifer.

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing cuddling with Naminé, asshole?" Seifer growled, accompanied with Rai's customary "Yeah, ya know?" and Fuu's icy gaze.

"Seifer, _no!_ Leave Demyx alone, we were just walking to class together! We have the same art class this period!" Naminé protested, sketchbook falling to the floor as she pushed Seifer away with surprising strength for a girl of her slight physique.

Sending one last, irritated glare towards a pale Demyx, he reluctantly relinquished his grasp on the mulleted blonde—but not without one, last bruising shove to his chest which sent him stumbling to the side.

"You keep your filthy hands offa my little sister, you hear?" he grumbled, striding off in the opposite direction that the pair had been heading.

"Demyx, I'm so, so sorry—are you okay?" Naminé asked in a panicked voice, rushing over to where the dazed musician leaned against the wall for support, small hands batting away his hands that covered his throat and inspecting him for any possible damage.

"'m fine," Demyx managed to get out between coughs and, to Naminé's bewilderment, the abused teen began laughing feebly as he bent over to retrieve Naminé's fallen sketchbook to hand back to her.

"And you don't have to apologize--I suppose it just never occurred to me that even I, the cowardly artist who is renowned to run away at the mere _mention_ of a fight, could possibly be considered a threat to you, thereby setting your protective older brother on my case," he continued good-naturedly, patting Naminé gently on the shoulder before tilting his head towards the direction that he had been heading.

"Come on, or we'll be late for class," he grinned, still absentmindedly fingering his bruised throat.

Naminé remained frozen for a good few seconds after Demyx had turned and continued on down the hall, blue eyes wide with bewilderment as she let out a soft, incredulous laugh and followed after him, feet pattering quietly behind him.

They hurried to the classroom, well aware that they were now at least five minutes late due to their run-in with Seifer, but chatted amiably all the while, the incident already in the back of their minds.

When they pushed through the doors to the studio at last, a gentle-looking brunette woman stopped addressing the students already seated in the room.

"Good morning Demyx, Naminé," Aerith greeted pleasantly, gesturing for the two to take the two empty seats at the far end of the long table the students sat at. Upon their doing so, she marked off their attendance on a clipboard before continuing the discussion of the criteria necessary for the students to pass the course this year--"although I have absolutely no doubts about _that,_" she added, her words laced with laughter.

When she was finished speaking, she handed each student a large folder to keep smaller assignments in which they could use the remainder of the period to decorate in any way they wished. As friendly chatter started up in the room –the kind teacher always allowed her students to chat and walk around as they worked (so long as they weren't too noisy) believing that such contact could only help their creative flows– Aerith approached where Demyx and Naminé sat side by side.

The next thing they knew however, Aerith had gone from smiling genially at the both of them, opening her mouth to say something to placing her hands gingerly on Demyx's neck, looking positively horrified.

"Demyx, what on earth happened?" Aerith gasped, utterly aghast as she leant over and tugged Demyx's collar slightly further down as her naturally maternal instincts took over.

"Oh, that. _That_ would be the reason for our being late," Demyx replied sheepishly, but he made no move to stop Aerith. _Anyone_ who knew the compassionate woman had learned long ago that it was not wise to stand in the way of Aerith's mother-henish impulses.

"Please don't tell me that this is the result of your brother's brutish temper lashing out at Demy again," Aerith sighed as she glanced towards Naminé; a cute pout overtaking her visage at Naminé's responding flush of embarrassment.

"I really wish he wasn't quite so…so…" Naminé struggled to find the right word.

"Over aggressive when it comes to you?" Demyx offered helpfully, nonchalantly fixing his shirt when Aerith released her attentive grip on him at last. Naminé's blush only deepened at his cheerful accuracy, but she nodded.

With a soft hum of agreement, Aerith pulled away, absentmindedly toying with a stray lock of hair, still studying Demyx intently.

"Well, I'd send you to the nurse if I wasn't so sure that you were going to be okay myself, Demyx. So I advise you to use the rest of class time to finish up our current assignment--you too, Naminé," Aerith finished, offering them a soft smile before bidding them goodbye before wandering off to speak with another group of students.

"So do you have any ideas of what theme you're going to do for your year-long project?" Naminé asked curiously, reaching into her small canvas bag to retrieve a brand new pack of colored pencils.

"Mmm… nah, not yet," Demyx mumbled distractedly; already fully focused on blending the hues of blue and green pastels he'd added to the picture of the ocean he'd sketched out in light pencil on his folder. Naminé smiled to herself at the unusual display of quiet coming from the older blonde before quickly turning her attention to her own sketch.

Demyx gave a sudden start (which startled Naminé as well) when his phone began to vibrate in his pocket. He offered her an apologetic glance as he placed aside his pastel, wiping his azure-tinted fingers on his pants before slipping his hand into his pocket to retrieve his battered cell phone. He deftly flipped it open to find that he had one new text message. Naminé looked back up from her drawing –which was definitely beginning to resemble a group of people– just in time to catch the wry grin that crossed Demyx's face.

"Who is it?" Naminé questioned, leaning forward to prop her chin on her elbow.

"Axel. He's whining about how boring Greek history with Professor Hades is," Demyx chuckled just as his phone vibrated a second time. He opened the latest message before he burst out laughing.

"Never mind, he's changed his mind. Apparently, it's hilarious to see how much he picks on the guy sitting next to him—remember Herc? He's an absolute _god_ when it comes to Greek mythology, and it's a known fact that Professor Hades can't stand it when his students do well—or Hercules, for that matter," Demyx explained happily as he nimbly plugged in a response and set his mobile to the side in favor of continuing his picture.

The rest of the period passed very quickly after that (Demyx replying back to Axel's sporadic text messages every so often), and so it took the better part of five minutes for Demyx to register that everyone save an amused Aerith and Naminé had left the studio to go to lunch.

"Well you coulda _told_ me," Demyx laughed as he slung his bag over his shoulder and hastened toward where Naminé waited patiently by the door, but not before bidding Aerith goodbye. Almost immediately, however, they were bombarded by two familiar freshman girls, who each immediately latched onto Naminé's shoulders respectively.

"Naminé, we've been looking all over for you!" Olette smiled, shaking the bewildered girl slightly for emphasis.

"Yeah, where've you be--" Selphie began loudly, but upon noticing Demyx her focus quickly changed and she squealed as she threw her arms around the sitarist instead.

"Demy-bear!" she gushed, gaining several bemused looks from passing students. The looks were admittedly far and few between, however, as for the most part her eccentricities were ignored. After all, the popular brunette _was_ infamous for her happy-go-lucky attitude and consistent, (frighteningly) high energy level.

"Hey, Selph," Demyx replied cheerily, squeezing the girl gently before prying out of her grip somewhat (so that she merely held custody of his arm).

"Naminé, you said that you would meet up with us for lunch—and here you are planning to ditch us for the school's most popular musician!" Olette admonished playfully.

"That's right! Didja forget already, or were you just trying to worm your way out of our little deal?" Selphie teased, grinning madly at the slender blonde.

"Whatcha guys need Naminé for?" Demyx asked curiously, glancing towards Naminé for some sort of explanation. His curiosity was only piqued further when, upon catching said artist's eye questioningly, she flushed a becoming shade of pink and clutched her drawings closer to her chest. It seemed that Demyx wasn't the only one to have noticed her reaction, for immediately Selphie and Olette quickly turned their undivided attention to Naminé once more.

"Ooh, ooh, ohh—didja start the new doujin yet?"

"Can you show us?"

"No? That's okay too, so long as you can show us some samples!"

"G-guys, not here, okay?!" Naminé squeaked embarrassedly, their excited clamoring only causing her to flush even deeper, if possible.

Demyx watched in amused bafflement as a protesting Naminé was swiftly dragged off with cheery goodbyes from Olette and Selphie, while their blonde hostage only just managed to get out a hasty apology and farewell to Demyx between pleads to be released before they disappeared.

"Well, well, well—what do we have here?"

"Why, it looks like Demyx, all by himself, MarMar."

Demyx only had time to glance about in recognition of the voice before two arms snaked about his waist, pulling him backwards against a lean chest.

"_Our_ DemDem? All alone in the hallway? This _is_ a first, Larxy," Marluxia gasped dramatically, winking flirtatiously at the now-laughing musician; giving him one last squeeze before relinquishing him from his grasp.

"Hey Marly, Larxene," Demyx greeted, swaying slightly on the balls of his feet without anything else to do (he didn't mind that his friends all teased his inability to stay still--he couldn't help that he was restless).

"Aw, did lil' Demy-wemy get _lowst?"_ Larxene smirked, one hand on her waist as she leered at the mulleted teen.

"Hey--that only happened once, okay?"

"Only _once_, hmm? Then why do I seem to recall it happening _three_ times, Demy _darling_?" Larxene drawled, her smirk turning smug as Demyx seemingly made the split-second decision to ignore the heat that now rushed to his cheeks.

"…In _any_ case, I was just on my way to meet up with the rest of the guys… and I haven't been alone a _long_ time—I _was_ just walking with Naminé. But then Olette and Selphie stole her not twenty seconds ago, and that was when you two showed up," Demyx explained easily, his blush gradually ebbing away as he entered into more casual conversation with the roommates.

"You tend to spend an _awful_ lot of time around my baby sister whenever she's around, Waterboy," Larxene pointed out--and although her tone was casual, the predatory gleam in her eye said otherwise.

"Yeah—she's really sweet," Demyx grinned, shrugging easily. Satisfied that the blonde teen still did not harbor any indecent thoughts towards her sister, Larxene quickly lost interest in their current topic of discussion. She was about to begin a new rant entirely when Marluxia abruptly glanced up from where he was meticulously braiding a stray strand of his cotton candy hair.

"Wait…did you say that _Selphie_ and _Olette_ stole her away from you?" he began slowly. Demyx blinked and frowned slightly.

"Yeah—they mentioned something about a new doujin that she was supposed to have started--why are you laughing maniacally at me?" Demyx asked quickly when Larxene let out a harsh shriek of laughter at the explanation that quickly grew into a fit of hysterical laughter that had the two juniors stumbling over to the nearest wall for support.

"N-nothing t-t-to worry your pretty little head over, De-DemDem; it doesn't involve y-you," Marluxia managed to gasp, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye (ever careful not to smudge his eyeliner) and biting a fist to stifle his laughter.

"Oh _contraire_, MarMar--but _doesn't_ it?" Larxene shot back gleefully; her response only setting the two off once more.

"Ah, the joys of artistic ability," Marluxia concluded merrily, his and Larxene's hysterical giggles at last fading to appreciative chuckles. Abruptly Larxene slung an arm around an unsuspecting Demyx's shoulders with a pleased sigh.

"…Why do I get the feeling that there's something that involves me that I'd probably be best off not knowing although I'm not aware of it?" Demyx asked slowly, jumping slightly at Larxene's bark of laughter at his (most likely accurate) analysis of the situation.

"Oh, _Demyx_, I absolutely love knowing that I'll always be able to trust _you_ to make my whole day worthwhile with just one of your incy, wincy, a_dor_ably naïve comments," Larxene leered before swaggering back over to her pink-haired roommate.

"C'mon, Marly, let's go spook some freshmen," Larxene cackled, slipping her arm into Marluxia's before they started down the hallway.

"Buh-bye, DemDem," Marluxia called cheerily over his shoulder, wriggling his fingers in a girlish manner before turning to exchange a smirk with Larxene.

Demyx continued to stare after them for another few seconds before shaking his head, deciding right then and there that it probably wasn't worth getting into, and continuing on his way to the main doors to the cafeteria, exchanging a friendly wave or smile every so often.

After his latest encounter, he barely even blinked when a familiar, lanky, bangle-covered arm slipped around his neck and pulled him into a playful headlock; he did, however, squirm out of a laughing Axel's grasp when the redhead attempted to give him a noogie.

"_Geez_ man, where've you _been?_ Axel complained loudly, already dragging his blonde friend around the final corner he would have had to walk around to catch sight of the large doors to the cafeteria.

"Sorry, Axel—I sorta didn't realize that class ended (I was in art). _Then_ I kinda got held up by Selphie and Olette…then Larx 'n Marly," Demyx explained, running his fingers through his hair.

Immediately Axel let out a soft "ahh" of understanding, apparently deeming Demyx's excuse as valid.

"Yeah, that last pair together,_ that's_ a sight to behold," Axel agreed.

"So what were they terrorizing you about _this_ time?" he continued conversationally.

"Um, well…I didn't exactly get it, and, uh…to be honest, nor do I think I _want_ to," Demyx replied nervously, absently rubbing the nape of his neck. Axel threw back his head and laughed raucously before punching Demyx lightly in the arm.

"Meh, it was prob'ly nothin'. Just be happy that as of now, we've finished our last classes of the day—no, _week!_ Now c'mon, I'm _starving_!" Axel declared, starting down the hall to lead to where their friends were waiting.

"Axel, you're _always_ hungry--and yet, you're _still_ a twig," Demyx snorted, shaking his head incredulously. The expected frown crossed Axel's face.

"Shut. Up." Axel groaned, tucking his arms tightly across his chest self-consciously and sending a glower (pout) towards Demyx when the mulleted teen couldn't entirely cover up a giggle with a cough.

The redhead inevitably brightened, however, upon catching sight of another familiar head of messy blonde hair.

"Roxy!"

The freshman jumped at the shrill exclamation of his new nickname, and although he visibly stifled a pained sigh, he didn't say anything.

"Hello, Axel," he replied dryly, though his standard frown lightened slightly. His angry expression returned full force however (as well a small tick in his right eye), when Axel pushed his luck and threw an arm around his shoulders amiably.

A few seconds later found the redhead clutching his shin and looking up incredulously at the irate freshman.

"Roxy, what was _that_ for? I _missed_ you!" Axel moaned dejectedly from his spot on the floor, offering Roxas his best kicked-puppy expression.

"Moron—you were only gone for _what_, two _minutes_?" Roxas grumbled, but nevertheless offered a reluctant hand which the pyromaniac took rather enthusiastically for someone who had just been kicked by said assistant.

"So what are we gonna do now?" Sora piped up, fidgeting excitedly where he stood next to a much calmer Riku.

"I believe that now is a good opportunity to show you around the area surrounding the campus," Zexion cut in smoothly over Axel's responding whines of _"foooood!"_ Sora immediately latched onto the idea with vigor.

"Ooh, can we, guys? Can we?" Sora begged, looking about with wide, eager eyes. Everyone but Axel gave their assent, and the cinnamon haired ball of energy looked up imploringly at the redhead.

Axel placed his hands firmly on his waist and gazed back unwaveringly at Sora, determined to win this contest.

In the end, the pyromaniac achieved a new record of resisting Sora's infamous puppy-eyes before his resolve crumbled.

A mind-blowing fifteen seconds.

"Now _that_ just wasn't fair," Axel complained loudly as they made their way to their respective vehicles in the campus parking lot. Sora said nothing, he merely sent a dazzling, grateful beam in his direction, which the junior couldn't help but return with a reluctant smile of his own.

"Give it up, Axel—Sora's just _waaay_ too lovable to stay mad at," Demyx laughed, his statement backed up by numerous nods of agreement.

"Then I suppose that's it's just _another_ trait that happens to run in the family," Axel sighed helplessly, grinning as he slipped an arm around Demyx's shoulders and pulled him close into a half-embrace.

"And don't you forget it," Demyx winked playfully, slipping an arm around Axel's waist in keeping up with their playful façade. Axel merely grinned as he shot a smug glance over his shoulder where Zexion followed behind them with Riku.

Zexion didn't meet Axel's teasing, emerald gaze; in fact, it appeared as though he hadn't even noticed it. The only clue that he hadn't was how his grip on the strap of his bag tightened dangerously—to the point where his knuckles had gone white.

"Awright, so how're we gonna split up, now?" Axel asked bluntly, releasing his hold on Demyx to glance about as he blatantly ignored the expected impromptu stare-down between Riku and Roxas. Both instinctively reached out to the brunette situated the both of them.

Sora, however, had other plans—for Riku and Roxas were left looking stunned with their outstretched hands in the air as Sora unexpectedly launched himself behind a nonchalant Zexion.

"So it's settled, then, I suppose," Zexion sighed, absently patting Sora's head from where the boy stuck it out from where he stood in the safe haven that was Zexion's personal bubble.

'Cause, y'know, _no one_ wants to mess with the entity that is Zexion's Bubble.

"Sora and Demyx will come with me--Axel, you take Riku and Roxas."

Zexion's order was met with violent opposition from the later group, but it was Axel's furious response that spoke for the three of them.

"Heyheyhey—no way, man; it's kinda fucking obvious that Goldilocks and Silver here aren't exactly compatible, and there's absolutely _no way_ that I'm letting them near my baby in the company of one another," Axel shot back, crossing his arms angrily.

"Besides, you have room for one more—why not take Riku and leave me with Roxy?"

"_Because_. Demyx's and Sora's hereditary energy levels are a well-known factor. Combined, they are more like the equivalent of _four_ passengers. And I dare you to say otherwise," Zexion replied coolly, already turning towards his silver Mercedes Benz, followed by Demyx (barely surprising his hysterical giggles) and Sora (occasionally sending pitying glances back towards the huffy pyromaniac).

Axel opened his mouth and closed it, glowering when he realized that indeed, it _was_ a lost cause to fight Zexion's logic.

Fuckity biscuits.

X X X

The door to Sora and Riku's dorm slammed open, signaling the group's return to the campus for the rest of the night.

"Ohmigawd you guys, that was _so much fun—_we should, like, do that_ every_ Friday night for the rest of, of for_ever_!" Sora gushed excitedly, his bright blue eyes shining as though he thought it to be one of his most brilliant ideas (much like the time during which he was planning the details of the Moogle Incident –capital M, capital I– but we do not speak of that).

The remainder of the group, however, let out a collective groan as they settled themselves.

"How about _never_ again?" Roxas groaned as he made a beeline to his brother's bed, flopping down dramatically and sprawling out into a comfortable position.

"This is all Riku's fault," Roxas declared bluntly. Riku lifted his head from where he had collapsed onto his own bed.

"I honestly can't figure out how even _you_ came to that conclusion, Roxas. It was all Axel this time," he replied wearily.

"It kinda was…" Demyx agreed, brushing his dampened, haphazard looking hair out of his eyes (it had finally lost the will to stay up after the gel had been washed out when Sora had accidentally knocked the both of them into the stone Moogle fountain on their way back from the parking lot).

"I'm certain that I have absolutely no idea of what you're talking about," Axel replied with a cheeky grin that immediately gave him away.

"Bullshit," Riku deadpanned, his expression becoming one of weary acceptance when Sora threw himself on top of his best friend with a delighted giggle.

"I'd have to agree with my brother; I can't even begin to remember just how many times we _told_ you that Sora and sugar _do not mix well together_--_especially_ without consequence," Zexion affirmed, crossing his arms in a slightly sullen manner.

"And it didn't even _end_ there—_then_ you just _had_ to go and buy him that second cup of Starbucks after the three consecutive sea salt ice cream bars," Roxas groaned, draping an arm over his eyes as though doing so could block out the memory of the past few hours spent with his sugar/caffeine-high twin brother.

"Seriously Axel, you've gotta be careful! If you keep spending your own money on him like you did tonight, you're gonna be broke before you know it. Believe me, I know. This one weekend, my aunt and uncle had me stay over at their house for two days to watch Sora while they took Cloud and Roxas somewhere, and they left us, like one hundred dollars for food, and one hundred more dollars in case of an emergency. I think that's when he discovered the true extent of his begging abilities, because when his parents came back, it was all gone. That's when I was banned from babysitting Sora for an extended period of time if Roxas wasn't there, too," Demyx recounted sagely.

"But you saw his puppy-dog eyes for yourself. For fuck's sake, the cuteness actually _burns_," Axel insisted.

"You just need to learn to get past them and say 'no' Axel," Zexion reprimanded.

"Psh—like _you_ guys have never fallen victim to the Puppy-Dog Eyes of Doom," Axel retorted sarcastically.

And here, everyone (save a knowing-looking Demyx and a happily oblivious Sora) either coughed, mumbled something unintelligible yet refused to meet Axel's accusing emerald gaze, or didn't say anything at all.

"You're gonna spoil him rotten, Axel; even _more so_ than he already _is_," Roxas concluded, trying to sound reproachful even while he fought to keep a reluctant smile at bay as Sora suddenly launched himself across the room in an attempt to tackle an unsuspecting redhead to the ground.

Unfortunately for Sora, the pyromaniac was in fact much better built than one would first suspect. Axel easily caught the giggling ball of energy that hurtled toward him and effectively caught both of the freshman's wrists in one hand before using the other to tickle his ribs mercilessly.

It took another five (rather entertaining) minutes filled with Sora's hysterical peals of laughter and pleas for mercy before Axel and the rest of the room's occupants were satisfied that Sora wouldn't abuse the use of his not-so-secret weapon for a good long time. By that point, however, the small brunette had burned the remainder of his sugar-induced energy rush so thoroughly that the poor boy collapsed into an exhausted heap the moment he reached his bed (and onto a disgruntled, yet simultaneously amused Roxas).

The still-conscious students had a good laugh (or, in Zexion's case, a reluctant grin) at that before bidding each other good night and departing for their respectful dorms.

But of course, not before assigning Axel the responsibility of the wreck they knew Sora would be tomorrow after such a crash.

**XXXXXXXXX**

Jessie: Oh, the joys of being responsible for sugar high buddies…

Joh: But you know all about that, don't you, Jessie?

Jessie: **Shudders**

Joh: That's what she gets for the being the older and thereby more _mature _sister…

Jessie: **Sighs** Indeed…you're lucky I love you and all our (sugar loving) friends so much…

Joh: Yes. Yes we are.

Jessie: Mhmm… So, I hope you enjoyed the update! Don't hesitate to suggest what further madness you might like to see! Right—now I'm off to continue working on my other (much-neglected) KH multi-chapter fic.

xGothicxSerenityx: Thank you for the review (attempt)! I hate when that happens…

Mitsuru Aki: This is one of your favorite stories? Fer serious? Man, do I feel loved! And as for awkward moments in the dorm room? Yeeeah…they've, ah, somewhat started at this point. If you couldn't tell. And don't you worry, Cloud and Leon _will_ appear soon. That I can assure you. After all, I've already started working on the chapter where they come into play. I'm so glad you enjoy my characterizations—I do strive to do my absolute best in making them work as best they can in this scenario—and I hope you continue to enjoy my story!

Kiki Lelsissia: Sweetie, if _I_ had everyone's favorite Berserker as a teacher…I'm not quite sure what I'd do with myself. Probably attempt to suck-up to him as subtly as possible, seeing as he doesn't permit them in his class. Prof. Lexy would be AMAZING. I'd go to him for extra help…like…all the time. The same goes for Luxord (and yes, his betting-pool win). And the "Ducky" nickname is a play on a true story. Someone I know had a British professor who always called him "Ducky." It was the hair that convinced me that Lexy and Hayner had to be related, y'know. And yes…we _do_ know those most questionable circumstances Zexion happens to feel like pretending don't exist. When, really, they most definitely do. Thanks for your lovely review!

Demon's sinner: That's such a lovely comment—you really don't know how wonderful your review made me feel! And I hope the wait wasn't all too long for you; it takes a while to complete these long chapters.

Kaoru Gal: Yes, you always find ways to make me laugh. And I'm _so_ thrilled that you love my writing skills! I LOVE YOU!

Sleeping Rain: I'm so glad you're enjoying this story thus far, and I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you seemed to like the first. Thanks for your review!

_**Please Review**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Kingdom Hearts…I'm not even sure I own _myself_ anymore.

Joh: Nope, sorry, you're mine.

Jessie: Oh, right…you see, after much debate, we found out just who would be the seme in the ever-so-cannon couple of Sora and Demyx.

Joh: **Smirks** It's Sora…heheheh

Jessie: **Sighs** I…just can't top. I don't think I could even if my life depended on it.

Joh: I feel powerful.

Jessie: You should. Awighty, everyone—enjoy!

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I don't _really_ hate Riku—don't let what anyone says or my actions convince you otherwise.

I'd despise _anyone_ who had sexual interest in Sora--geez, I don't even know how people got the idea that I hold something against him personally. I don't hate him, just his goddamn hormones.

Believe you me, if anyone else showed even the _slightest_ implication of interest in him, I'd be on their case as well.

And hey, it's not _my_ fault the jerk had to go and start thinking of Sora as more than just a friend, or that he just refuses to give up.

I always _knew_ he wouldn't be any good; from the moment we first met. And yeah, yeah, I know that he _claims_ that it was a total accident on his part when he tripped and destroyed The Castle That Never Was, but it was probably just part of his idiotic plan to meet Sora.

Argh, _why_ did I have to be cursed with having _the_ most innocent and naïve twin brother in the world?

Well, that isn't to say I don't love him. I really dunno where I'd be without him. Sora doesn't quite understand how people can't immediately spot what few similarities we share right off the bat. But I know I personally agree with those who have difficulty. Hell—I'd go as far as to say that we're as different as night and day (I'll give you _one chance_ to guess which twin is which in that metaphor).

To be honest, though, I think that's one of the greatest things about us, though. Our individualism despite our being twins and all, I mean. I'm pretty sure I would've hated being the stereotypical kind that's the first thing that pops into everyone's mind at the mere mention of twins. Y'know, the whole "same tastes in clothes, music and just about everything else" shpeal.

I guess it probably would've been worse had we been completely identical twins--thank _God_ it's only the eyes.

It's kinda funny, really; some people have even told me that I remind them more of Cloud than Sora. Well, actually…now that I'm thinking about it, I guess I can see what they're saying. While Sora's known for his loud and outgoing personality, I'm much more reserved, as well as more or less infamous for some of the pranks I've pulled due to my more mischievousness nature. I suppose I do resemble Cloud in more ways than I do Sora; with precisely the same hue of blue eyes that has been passed down in our family for generations (or so I've been told), with the same unruly blonde hair (not nearly as spiky as Sora's, but in no way less gravity defying), and cool personality.

Then again, the "cool personality" aspect kind of ceases to apply in the company of certain individuals. For me, it's Riku, and for Cloud it's one of his best friends, Yuffie (he tends to smile a bit more, but he also gets much more wary whenever he's with her).

But then again, _everyone_ who knows Yuffie makes sure to be cautious around her.

And then there's me and Sora. Like I said; _I_ personally don't think our similar tastes are all that self-evident. Sure, we both love our religious movie nights (complete with bag upon bag of popcorn, plus soda) and ice cream (although even Sora agrees that I'm a bigger sea salt ice cream fan than he is) and sleep, but those aren't things that anyone could possibly know from the get-go.

…Wow… I really went on a lot, didn't I? I guess that makes sense, seeing as I've grown up spending a considerable amount of time thinking about our differences. I guess it's because I'm happy things turned out the way they did. This way, it just…it evens out well. When I need someone to pick me up when I'm feeling down, I can always count on Sora to get me to smile some way or another (although usually, it's another). And when Sora needs to talk to someone who'll take him seriously –it's amazing how insecure such an outgoing boy can get sometimes– he knows that he'll always be able to come to me for support.

I guess what I'm getting at is…

I wouldn't have it any other way.

…And God _fucking_ damn it, now I sound like a fucking _sap._

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**▪▫ ∫Chapter Four∫ ▫▪**

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**X**

_Slow down, you move too fast_

_You got to make the mornin' last—_

"…Dem?"

_Just kickin' down the cobblestones_

_Lookin' for fun and feelin' groovy_

"Mmm…whadyawaaan Zex?"

_Ba da da da da da da, _

_Feelin' groovy…_

"Could you kindly tell me just who the _fuck_ is calling you at—" Glance "—four thirty-eight in the morning?"

Silence

"Dem? Demyx?"

Zexion stifled an irritated groan before blindly reaching out for his nightstand; by the sounds of it, Demyx had left it on _his_ table (_again…_) and chucking it unceremoniously into the dark in what he believed to be the general direction of Demyx's head—you really could never tell with Demyx. The blonde often managed to twist his body into the most ridiculous positions while sleeping.

However, the resounding _thunk_ and whine of _"Zexxxy, why're you so meaaan?"_ mollified the tired bluenette somewhat, and he murmured a soft apology from where his face was buried in his pillow.

Sure, Zexion loved Demyx, but that didn't mean he also had to love his crush's phone ringing at odd hours of the morning.

"'lo?" Demyx greeted sleepily before falling silent as he listened.

"…Hiya, Xiggy," Demyx yawned, rubbing his eyes wearily. Zexion cringed slightly at the sheer volume of Xigbar's voice; he could hear the ocularly-challenged man's voice clearly from the other side of the room.

"…No, no, I'm happy to hear from you…just…do you even know what time it is?" Demyx asked groggily.

"Oh…well, how—Xiggy, how much did you drink?"

Zexion opened an eye and angled his head to grace Demyx's phone with a sullen glower.

"Xigbar, you're drunk as all hell…because you're slurring, idiot! Yeah, you are. Yes, you really _are, _Xigbar. …_Xigbar, _I—_ugh_. Okay, look. Xigbar? You're totally plastered; shut up and call me back when you're not totally wasted. You have somewhere to stay right? Right. Okay, goodb—waitwait_wait_, _**where?!**_" Demyx's head suddenly shot up in alarm, and his grip around his cellular tightened.

"No. **No.** You are **not** staying with those…but I--" one of his hands absentmindedly tangled in his long hair as he forced himself to listen to whatever Xigbar's drunken argument happened to be.

At last, just as Zexion felt his consciousness beginning to slip once more, Demyx let out an exasperated sigh.

"Okay. Alright, Xigbar, but if you manage to escape from there by some miraculous stroke of luck, you're staying with us, capiche? G'night, Xigbar. I'll see you tomorr—_no! __**N-NO**__ I will __**NOT**__ have phone sex with you thankyouverymuch__**GOODNIGHT!"**_

_**BANG**_

There was suddenly a phone-shaped dent in the wall by the door where there hadn't been a millisecond ago.

"I take it we'll be introducing Xigbar to Riku and the rest tomorrow if he escapes from whatever horrid place it is that he's found to crash at for the night?" Zexion asked through gritted teeth, struggling not to get up to finish off the job on Demyx's phone by grinding it into a fine powder with his heel.

Demyx glanced up sheepishly to meet Zexion's irritated gaze, his eyes having long since become accustomed to the dark by this point.

"Y-yeah, guess so. But I'm seriously having doubts about him getting out of that Wonderland frat's turf without incident. Sorry, Zexion, I wasn't expecting any of his unholy-hour calls so early on in the school year," Demyx apologized--mistaking Zexion's fury at Xigbar's coming onto him for aggravation at being woken up so early in the morning.

"It's not your fault, Demyx," Zexion sighed. "Heck, _meeting_ him wasn't exactly your fault now, either, was it? _No one_ could have ever predicted that you were going to be there to break his fall from the Drunken Trampoline Incident."

X X X

It was with great enthusiasm on Demyx's part, however, that he greeted the daredevil the next morning.

"Xiggy!" Demyx cried out happily as he raced from Axel and Zexion's sides to throw his arms around Xigbar in a crushing embrace.

"Hey lil' buddy!" Xigbar grinned, ruffling the sitarist's hair and smirking at the heated protests he received in response.

"Yo, man, how the _hell_ did you get out of Wonderland so quickly?" Axel laughed incredulously as he approached his two reunited friends; Sora, Riku and Roxas looked on uncertainly from where they stood by Zexion.

"You guys _know _him?" Sora asked in an awed voice, trying to figure out just how such vastly different people could meet, let alone become best friends.

"Zexion…? How _old_ is he?" Roxas added doubtfully, eyeing Xigbar with some concern as the man gesticulated wildly while recounting a seemingly epic story.

"Old enough to know better than to do half the things he does," Zexion deadpanned as they watched Xigbar pick himself up from the floor where he'd finished his tale.

"Is he safe?" Riku asked at last as the salt-and-pepper haired man turned his one, shockingly golden eye on their group and grinned wolfishly before approaching them.

"Just don't make any sudden movements, and I'm relatively certain he won't bite…much," Zexion teased, the corners of his lips quirking up into a smirk at the glare his younger brother sent him.

"Sooo, my buddy Axel here told me that my two other favorite juniors brought me some fresh meat this year. Heh, get it? Fresh _meat_ instead of fresh_men_? _Man_, I crack myself up!" Xigbar crowed as he stuck an arm out jauntily towards Riku.

"Oh, now _this_ is priceless. Complexion like a vampire; hair with a silver sheen; that calculating look? This could _only_ be Zexion's little bro. Hey there, kid, my name's Xigbar Gravitas, nice to meetcha," Xigbar greeted, shaking Riku's hand vigorously when the reserved teenager extended his hand.

"And—_there's_ that famous million dollar smile—that's gotta be Sora over there, am I right?" Xigbar chuckled when Sora nodded distractedly, his smile waning as he gazed at Xigbar curiously.

Riku glanced over to where his best friend stood silently before grasping the brunette's shoulder to give him a slight shake. Sora blinked, and apparently snapped back into reality, for his smile returned full force.

"How'd you loose your eye?" Sora asked easily, as if he were simply inquiring about the weather.

"Sora, that's _rude_," Roxas hissed from Sora's other side. Xigbar, however, simply laughed aimiably.

"Nah, it's fine, kiddo—_hah! _He doesn't like _that_ name at all, now, does he? Aww, wouldja look at that pout, that's just _precious_; you've gotta be Roxas! Sora here doesn't beat around the bush, now, does he?" Xigbar chuckled.

"I like that. Kid's got a 'lotta spunk, is all. So, ya really wanna know, do ya?" Xigbar grinned, snickering as Sora nodded fervently. Xigbar's expression suddenly turned solemn.

"I got stabbed while saving some poor kid these gangsters were mugging in an alley. …Psyche!" Xigbar snickered at the expression of horror that crossed Sora's face.

"Nah, nah, nah—for real? When I was twenty-something, me an' a buncha friends all got drunk off our asses and, some way or another, we got it into our heads that we should start whacking away at some golf balls we had lying around. Anyways, when my turn to putt rolled around, I tried showing off, and I, in all my drunken splendor, managed to miss _spectacularly_," Xigbar grinned sheepishly.

"You see, Sora? As a matter of fact there _are_ some few, unfortunate souls out there who are unintentionally just as clumsy—if not more so—than even you," Axel declared playfully, tossing an arm around the bewildered boy's shoulders.

"And the scars?" Riku added quickly, unable to help himself.

"Oh, these ain't nothing but _scratches_; you should see my back."

"And his left foot," Axel broke in.

"Chya—can't forget the Angry Moomba Incident. But these range from pineapple to biking accidents," Xigbar shrugged before clapping his hands together loudly

"So, dudes! Who's gonna be the lucky guy that gets to host me first this fine morning?" Xigbar asked, grinning madly.

"'Host?'" Roxas repeated questioningly, fixing the surfer with a curious look.

"Yep! I might've dropped outta college, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy crashing my buddies' classes," Xigbar explained gleefully, brightening even further when Demyx gave him a thumbs up.

"Awright Demy! Whatcha got first period?"

"Math."

"Well then what are we waiting for?! Let's go fuck around with some numbers!" Xigbar cackled, grabbing his laughing friend by the wrist and demanding he lead them there immediately. The remainder of the group watched the pair race off towards Demyx's classroom in a wary silence, until it was broken with—

"Ten bucks he gets kicked out within the first five minutes."

"Good morning, class," Luxord greeted amiably as he entered the classroom carrying a neat stack of papers.

"Yes—these papers _are_ what you're no doubt hoping for them to be," Luxord answered with a chuckle in response to the hopeful glances his students were sending said papers.

"As promised, I finished grading both last week's quizzes _and_ in-class assignments last night so that I'd be able to hand back today. So, I hope you kept _your_ word as well, and remembered not only to do the homework I assigned yesterday but the ten _additional_ classroom exercises on that page of your textbooks too," Luxord continued, walking forward to start handing the papers back to their rightful owners.

"Please take out your notebooks while I return these…papers…" Luxord trailed off uncertainly as he approached Demyx's desk where Xigbar had pulled up an extra chair, and who was currently tipped back on its hind legs—his arms crossed casually behind his head and his good eye closed.

"…Pardon me, but, uh, I don't think you've got the right class…" Luxord began slowly, his eyebrows drawing together into a confused frown.

"Actually," he continued uncertainly, "I don't think I've actually ever seen you."

Xigbar opened his eye lazily, his mouth already opening to form the usual, smart comment he reserved for the teachers here, when he registered the new face.

The unfamiliar, British, drop-dead _gorgeous_ face.

"Well, here I am," Xigbar said suddenly, making Demyx jump and turn to look at him in confusion. Luxord blinked in surprise.

"Pardon?"

"What were your other two wishes?" Xigbar finished with a grin, leaning forward to rest his chin on his palm as he gave Luxord a very interested once (read: twice) over.

The blonde teacher stared blankly at the guest.

"I'm sorry?" Luxord asked with no little bewilderment.

"Xigbar, cut it out," Demyx begged softly so only Xigbar could hear him; a hand plastered over his eyes, thoroughly embarrassed for both of his friends' sakes.

"I'm not quite sure just who you think you are, thinking that you can just come barging into one of my classes without any invitation whatso--"

"My bad, gorgeous! The name's Xigbar, and I'll be your plaything tonight," he smirked mischievously.

At last, a look of understanding dawned across Luxord's face; however, it was quickly replaced with one of puzzled bewilderment.

"Are you actually attempting to proposition me?" Luxord asked dubiously, his arms crossing as he raised a delicate eyebrow--though was it Demyx's imagination, or was the usually unshakable mathematician turning a bit pink?

"See, my answer depends on what your view towards bisexuality is," Xigbar leered, a flirtatious grin slipping onto his lips.

"And, judging by the way you dress, I'd say _yes_," Xigbar finished confidently, titling his chair back once more.

There was no question as to whether Luxord was a bit flushed anymore; the color of his face was now incredibly similar to that of Axel's hair (whether from embarrassment or rage, however, Demyx was uncertain). His mouth opened and shut once more as he gave up the struggle of trying to come up with a logical response.

Instead, he turned his gaze on Demyx, who immediately shrank back in his seat, not used to being the target of his friend's Look.

"Mr. Mizu? Would you mind escorting this nutter to Professor Xenmas' office?" Luxord muttered as he made to continue distributing the remaining stack of papers.

"Uh, um, Luxord, I'm not so sure that, eh—umm, well Xigbar doesn't--"

"What Dem's trying to say is that you actually can't threaten to send me to good ol' Mansex's office for a _time out_," Xigbar chuckled. Luxord paused where he stood two desks away, and visibly struggled to bite back a smile.

"…I haven't heard _that_ particular endearing nickname all summer long. I rather missed it. Oh, well. In any case, why ever not?" Luxord asked, pausing to glance back to where Xigbar was sprawled in his chair, Demyx trying (unsuccessfully) to hide beneath his desk beside him.

"'Cause I don't actually _go_ here man," Xigbar sang, throwing an arm around a flushed Demyx's shoulders.

"Ah. Well, in that case, I do believe that there are other charges I could bring against you," Luxord informed him as he came to the last row of his extremely amused students.

Xigbar suddenly didn't look so smug, but he tried to brush off Luxord's retort with a nervous chuckle.

"As _if!_ Like what, little Miss Prim and Proper?"

"How does trespassing plus sexual harassment sound for a start?" Luxord replied breezily, a smug little smirk quirking the corners of his lips upwards as he finished distributing the stack of assignments.

At Xigbar's prolonged silence, Demyx stole a glance at his black-clad friend, surprised that he hadn't countered with his usual witty remark already.

Instead, the mischievous gleam in his left eye had disappeared, replaced only with earnest interest and…dear God was that _admiration?_

"Whoa, slow down, dude! No need to get your panties in a bunch, I'll be good; honest," Xigbar assured Luxord somewhat less flippantly than one would expect, waving his hands for emphasis.

"Is that so?" Luxord asked, raising an eyebrow in mild surprise as he returned to the front of the classroom.

"Totally! You won't even know I'm here," Xigbar grinned, leaning forward on his elbows and focusing on the blonde Englishman where he leaned against his desk.

"Hmm…well, I suppose I could forget to mention this to dear Professor Xenmas," Luxord drawled thoughtfully, "on the condition that you prove not to be any further of a distraction to my students than you have already."

"I guess I can dig that, but the only reason I even started is 'cause _you_ started the disruption."

"Really, now? How do you figure _that?_" Luxord asked, a hint of genuine curiosity creeping into his voice.

"Simple, man. _You_ walked into the room and started the disruption in _my_ pants."

X X X

"Bow chicka _bow_ wow… _Damn_, Demyx, why didn't you _tell_ me that you actually scored a hot teacher this year? I would've swung by sooner!" Xigbar exclaimed happily the moment the pair turned the corner of the hallway that lead up to said mathematician's classroom. Meanwhile, Demyx's face was burning.

"Xigbar, I didn't even know you _swung_ that way," Demyx muttered, his ears blazing at this point.

"Demyx, I'm hurt; I thought you _knew_ me better than that!" Xigbar scolded the musician playfully. "Far as I'm concerned, as long as two people are gettin' some, gender shouldn't come _remotely _close to counting as an issue."

"...So does that mean that when you called me last night, you were actually _serious_…?" Demyx trailed off timidly, suddenly remembered Xigbar's drunken proposition from last night's call too clearly.

"Dude…I _called_ you last night? I wasn't aware that I'd done anything more than crash on the kitchen counter…for fuck's sake Dem—I gave _wasted_ a new meaning yesterday! Awright, what the hell did I want?" Xigbar asked expectantly, already convinced that it must have been sort of come on by the intensity of Demyx's blush.

"You were looking for phone sex," Demyx informed him sheepishly—laughing at the vaguely appalled look that crossed over Xigbar's face as he processed that particular thought.

"_Shit—_sorry about that, man, but _as_ _if_. I'm not exactly into the idea of pedophilia (at least, I don't think I am). Sorry if I got your hopes up," Xigbar teased, grinning madly as Demyx's enormously relieved expression became into a pout.

"But still…the least you coulda done was _warn_ me," Demyx insisted, toying idly with the strap of his bag.

"And to think that I was gonna _introduce_ the both of you after class," Demyx groaned, gesturing vaguely.

The two halted abruptly, Xigbar's hand already having flown out to grab Demyx's wrist to stop him from walking any further

"Dude. You _know _him?" Xigbar gawked, suddenly gazing at Demyx with something boarding reverence. Demyx's face fell.

"Disregarding the point that he's my _teacher_, _yes_, Xigbar, I _know_ him. He's one of my best friends. I met him in freshman year, and ever since, we—_ack_!"

The _ack_, of course, was Demyx's intelligent response to Xigbar suddenly spinning him around to face the way they just came.

"What the _hell _are we waiting for, then?! C'mon!" Xigbar exclaimed, jumping at the opportunity to see his latest love interest again.

Instead of fallowing suit as per usual, Demyx grabbed Xigbar's wrist desperately with both hands and dug his heels into the floor, stopping the excited gunman in his tracks. Xigbar let out an indignant squawk in response, drawing even more eyes to them.

"I think you two spoke plenty in class," Demyx replied hastily, tugging on Xigbar's hand in a silent plea to simply meet back up with the rest of the group for lunch.

Xigbar tried to scare Demyx into compliance with a glare, but quickly gave up with a huffy sigh.

"Damn it, Dem, you _know_ I've got a soft spot for you," Xigbar grumbled, turning around to stalk down the hallway, his arms crossed over his chest sullenly. Demyx heaved a sigh of relief before rushing to catch up to his friend.

"Thanks, Xiggy," Demyx beamed at Xigbar as they approached the doorway to the dining hall; his smile widening a fraction (if possible) upon catching sight of a shock of red hair beside a shorter head of messy, blonde spikes.

"Whatever, man. What I _don't_ get, however, is why you're so adamant about letting me chill out--"

"--Proposition," Demyx interupted.

"Chillin' out, propositioning, they're practically the same thing. Point is," Xigbar continued over Demyx's snort of exasperated amusement, "I don't see what's so wrong with letting two of your best pals have some _quality time_ together—in a coffee shop, on a table, whatever!"

"It's just…weird!" Demyx groaned.

"_What_ is?" Xigbar blinked, surprised at Demyx's behavior. Usually the blonde was all too happy to let his friends hang out with one another; it was no question that Demyx loved it when his friends got along just as much as when he hung out with them himself.

"Be_cause_, you're like, two of my best friends! Don't you think it's a little awkward for _me_, seeing you two flirting right next to me--"

"Uh, I'm pretty sure the hitting-onage was one-sided, lil' buddy," Xigbar laughed.

"Xigbar, he was _playing along_ with you. Luxord _never _plays coy in class. Outside maybe, but _never _during class. He's _interested_, believe me." Demyx did his best to ignore the ecstatic grin that was threatening to split Xigbar's face in half.

"_Anyways,_ so how do you think I feel when, all of a sudden, two of my best friends who I've assumed to be straight up until this point, start coming onto one another?"

"Oh, c'mon Dem, it's not like it's any different than what _you're_ up to with Sunshine over there," Xigbar scoffed, gesturing vaguely towards the doors where their friends were waiting. Demyx stared vacantly at his older companion.

"What are you _talking _about?" Demyx asked, wearing a look of utter bafflement. Xigbar stopped to stare back at Demyx blankly.

"Wait, you're not with…?" Xigbar began, before suddenly lifting a hand to wave back at Axel, who had apparently just spotted them standing a few yards away.

"I'm not with who, Xig?" Demyx persisted, his ocean eyes gazing curiously at the gunman as he waited for his friend to finish his thought.

"Nah, it doesn't matter," Xigbar replied dismissively, before his face lit up with a grin.

"C'mon, Dem, let's go! I'm starved; I worked up an appetite fantasizing about all the possible ways I could fuck that man to Sunday," Xigbar declared loudly, snickering at the color that rushed to the sitarist's face.

"Oh, _God_, the _images! Zexy_, make them go _away!"_ Demyx suddenly wailed as he rushed to bury his face into the shoulder of an unsuspecting Zexion, who nevertheless raised his arms to comfort the somewhat hysterical blonde.

"Xigbar, what on Earth did you _say _to him to scar his fragile mind to this extent?" Zexion demanded as he shifted Demyx slightly in order to better distribute their combined weight.

"Don't blame _me_--I just gave the kid a lil' taste of what goes on in my mind! Not my fault he couldn't handle it," Xigbar shrugged in a failed attempt to look reassuring even as Zexion and Axel made similar sounds of dismay while Sora exchanged worried glances with Riku and Roxas.

"Dude," Axel whispered in awe as Demyx whined pitifully, "I think you might've _broken_ him."

"Aww, it's nothing a little pocky won't fix," Xigbar smirked knowingly as Demyx tilted his head to peer at him around Zexion's shoulder.

"Pocky?" Demyx repeated, brightening at the mention of his favorite treat. Xigbar reached into a pocket to retrieve a package of said snack, laughing when Demyx launched himself from his vaguely affronted-looking best friend to throw his arms around the ocularly-challenged man with a manly squeal of delight.

Because that's just what Demyx totally was. Manly.

"I'll completely forget about your mentally scaring me for life in exchange for some pocky," Demyx offered eagerly, utilizing his puppy-dog eyes to the best of his abilities.

"Sounds like a fair trade to me," Xigbar agreed as he relinquished the strawberry flavored treat to the blonde, watching as Sora joined Demyx in hopping about jubilantly with no little amusement.

A few moments later Zexion felt a tap on his shoulder, and he glanced back to see a dubious looking Xigbar; immediately, the hint of a smile that had managed to work its way onto his lips as he'd watched the two Strifes dancing disappeared completely.

"Yes?" Zexion murmured, so as not to draw the rest of the group's attention away from where it was firmly set on where the two boys had collapsed to the floor in a giggling heap.

"Outta curiosity," Xigbar began delicately, "are you even _aware_ that your, like, _soul mate_ doesn't seem to realize that you were kinda supposed to get together _forever_ ago?"

Zexion couldn't quite manage to completely suppress the irritated growl that rose in his throat at Xigbar's remark.

"Xigbar? Shut _up_," Zexion replied icily.

"_C'mon, _Loverboy--what the hell's taking you so long to make a fucking _move_ on him?" Xigbar continued incredulously before breaking off to stare at Zexion very seriously.

"_Please_ tell me that the two of you have at least _kissed_. _Please_," he implored somewhat desperately; looking as though he'd very much like to strangle Zexion when the junior became suddenly intrigued with his shoelaces.

"Fuck, Zex, _you're_ supposed to be the _smart one_. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that you should've bedded the kid _ages_ ago," Xigbar groaned

"Xigbar…"

"I mean, _dude_. If you _don't_ start courting after him soon, someone else _will; that_ I can guarantee you."

"Xigbar, I don't—"

"Hell, the kid's one in a million! He's a genuine catch! It's not hard to see that, so I don't really know just what you're playing at, smarty-pants. He won't be around forever--"

"_I don't even know if he's gay_ and he _sure_ as hell doesn't know _I _am," Zexion hissed venomously, raking a hand through his slate-colored strands in a rare gesture of open aggravation.

Xigbar fell silent, regarding Zexion with a contemplative look for a few moments before letting out a hearty chuckle.

"What the _hell's_ so funny?" Zexion snapped, glaring daggers at the gunman.

"Well damn! Is _that_ all that's stopping you?" Xigbar asked, honestly surprised.

"So the possibility of loosing the _one_ person you care most about in the entire world because you confessed your undying adoration for them when they didn't share your sexuality wouldn't stop _you?_" Zexion retorted.

When Xigbar merely grinned, Zexion slapped a hand over his eyes, muttering something that sounded suspiciously along the lines of "I'm having this conversation with the worst person _possible_" before he released a sigh.

"Hey, hey, hey! I'd give it some thought if honestly were to come to that. I mean, I _know_ how tight you two are, Zex—I just thought you guys woulda shared something like that years ago. Point is, if that's all that's stopping you…" Xigbar grinned mischievously, "I think I can help you there."

Zexion gazed blankly at him before his eyes traveled back over to where Demyx and Sora were finally pulling themselves together. Bright ocean eyes met stormy blue, and Demyx beamed at him, gesturing for him to follow as they started towards the main exit.

At last, Zexion's gaze met Xigbar's, eyes filled with an emotion that would've been called helplessness had he been anyone else.

"What do you mean?"

"No."

"I knew there was a _slight_ chance you wouldn't like that bit, kiddo, but I'm just—"

"_**No**_**."**

"Zex, man, will you just _listen_ for a sec and _let me_ _finish_?" Xigbar pleaded as he suddenly found himself jogging to keep up with Zexion, who had caught up to where Axel was casually strolling a few feet behind Roxas.

Axel glanced to his side at the sound of footsteps, both eyebrows raising at the seething expression on Zexion's face.

"Uh, Zex? You okay there?" Axel tried uncertainly. When there was no response other than that of Zexion's eyes darkening further, Axel let out a low whistle as he threw a semi-impressed look over his shoulder.

"Damn, Xig, the hell you do to him?" Axel asked, trying vainly to hide the interest in his voice.

"I didn't do nothin'! I was justtrying to give Zex some pointers in the art of romance," Xigbar explained, ignoring the glare Zexion sent his way.

Axel found he simply couldn't contain his curiosity (as well as his amusement, for that matter) any more. Grinning wickedly, he slipped an arm around Zexion's shoulders, who immediately stiffened at the unwanted contact.

"To be honest, I've seen no faults in Xigbar's actions--"

"His so-called _advice _insinuated that I get Demyx drunk," Zexion ground out between gritted teeth, shrugging Axel's arm off irritably.

Axel's expression was suddenly murderous.

"Hey, hey, hey--don't make me the bad guy here! I care about Dem's wellbeing just as much as you do!" Xigbar protested indignantly.

"I was _just_ saying that alcohol happens to be the best disinhibitor known to man."

"Xigbar, what the _fuck_ do we not know about Dem that we'd need _alcohol_ to get him to him spill it?" Axel hissed.

"Dude? Hasn't it ever occurred to you that Dem's _never_ shown the slightest bit of interest in _anyone_?" Xigbar began exasperatedly. Axexl blinked.

"Well…yeah, but I never really thought too much about it. I mean, it's _Demyx_. D-E-M-Y-X. It's _impossible_ for me to think dirty thoughts about him, got it memorized?" Axel replied.

"Dude, I totally get where you're comin' from and all 'cause I feel the same way, but think about it. None of our friends has ever thought too much into it for the _same reason_--we've all been waiting for _someone_ to claim him," Xigbar said pointedly, looking at a not-so-passive Zexion.

"You're totally right, man: Demyx is Demyx. The kid's all rainbows 'n sunshine. He hugs everyone, laughs with everyone…hell, he _loves_ everyone--_platonically. _But that's _it._ Demyx has always been willing to share that love with anyone who'll accept it, but it seems as though he's never thought about anyone in more than a platonic manner," Xigbar explained quietly, a genuinely thoughtful expression replacing his usual grin for the first time since Axel and Zexion could remember.

Axel didn't respond immediately—preferring to let his gaze wander to said musician, who was vainly attempting to get Roxas to join his and Sora's impromptu skip fest; Riku looking on in amusement.

"Geez, Xigbar, you coulda _warned_ us that you could be analytical on occasion," Axel joked, snickering at the affronted look that was sent his way.

"Okay, so you got a point. As impossible as it sounds, no one seems to be quite sure of our buddy's sexuality…or even the existence of one, for that matter," he added in a mumble that earned reactions varying to the extreme—a highly amused laugh from Xigbar and a death glare from Zexion.

"But c'mon, Xig; you can't seriously be overlooking the _obvious_ choice of how to remedy the situation once and for all. And yes--" he continued over Xigbar's immediate response, "--_without_ the use of alcohol."

"As _if_, dude. What the fuck could you _possibly _be getting at?" Xigbar scoffed dubiously, but not without some reluctant interest.

However, Axel refused to elaborate any further for the moment, ignoring both Xigbar's pleads and the subtle glances Zexion sent his way in favor of grinning knowingly.

X X X

"Uh, you guys? I'm, um, not so sure I wanna do this anymore…" Demyx mumbled shyly, gripping the neck of his guitar tighter in his hand as he eyed the platform in front of him nervously.

"C'mon Dem! What harm could it do you? That is, other than increase the possibility of your fanatic, R.G.U-attending fans jumping you in the hallways?" Xigbar smirked as Demyx blushed awkwardly.

"Seriously, Demyx. We've all heard you play, and you're good. You're _really_ good," Riku put in.

"It'd be like when you play for us at home…just with more people!" Sora said happily.

"Demyx, you love music, you love making people happy--you _love_ this place! You'd be more comfortable here than anywhere else. If you're gonna start doing this, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't begin here, where you love the atmosphere," Axel assured the blonde.

"We'll be right here, cheering you on," Roxas mumbled somewhat awkwardly; not exactly used to giving words of comfort but willing to try if it meant convincing his cousin.

"And it would mean the world to Tifa if you started here," Zexion finished, giving the hand Demyx had clamped onto a slight squeeze.

"Besides…" Axel grinned evilly, "you promised."

"I didn't know you were serious! I mean come on; you've been teasing me about getting my act together and actually doing this for _how _long now? And then I _certainly_ didn't realize you meant _tonight_," Demyx whined unhappily, the hand that wasn't clasped onto Zexion's tugging anxiously on the hem of his shirt.

"Dem, you'll never know how you like performing like this if you don't give it a shot. If you enjoy yourself, you can do it on a regular basis. And, in the _extremely_ unlikely event that you absolutely hate the experience, we'll never bother you about it again. Is that cool with you?" Axel suggested, slinging a comforting arm around the sitarist's waist and hugging him gently.

"Alright," Demyx murmur at last, a reluctant smile playing on his lips at the immediate sounds of approval.

At that moment, Tifa walked up to the group.

"Hey Demy, you're up in five," Tifa greeted warmly.

"'Kay, thanks a lot, Tifa," Demyx replied. His nervous smile of thanks was replaced with one of bewilderment when Tifa threw her arms around him without warning.

"I'm absolutely thrilled you chose my place to start doing this, Demyx--it just means so much to me!" Tifa exclaimed delightedly, giving him a slight squeeze before stepping back to gaze at him approvingly.

"I hope you don't mind, but I invited a few of my friends tonight," Tifa smiled, laughing at the look that crossed Demyx's face.

"Tifa, you really don't have to do all of this for me," Demyx said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. Tifa merely sighed in amused exasperation.

"Demyx Mizu, you'd better stop belittling yourself this instant," she declared, fixing him with a look of mock authority before glancing at the clock.

"They'll be here any minute now, so I've gotta let the staff know to get a few of the regular orders started," Tifa explained as she slipped a notebook out of here apron.

"See you in a few!" she smiled, her long hair floating behind her as she turned on her heel to hurry to the kitchen.

Zexion glanced up at the same clock Tifa had checked merely seconds ago. It was already eight-thirty, and as per usual for a Friday night, the popular café was filling up quickly.

"I suggest we head over to the front the back now so as to have the closest seats," Zexion said, bringing everyone's attention to the fact that available seats were quickly becoming a rarity.

Amid answers of agreement, the group of friends began moving towards the two remaining tables closest to the makeshift stage Tifa had all too willingly asked (read: ordered) her staff to set up earlier that evening upon Axel's request to let Demyx perform.

Zexion, however, found it impossible to head over along with the rest of the group; what with the suddenly vice-like grip Demyx had on his wrist.

"Uh, Zexion? Would you, um…would you mind standing by Tifa while I'm on?" Demyx asked in a small voice, unable to meet the slate-haired junior's eyes as he spoke.

The blonde jumped when he was suddenly pulled into a warm embrace—slowly, his gaze raised to meet Zexion's shyly.

"Of course, Dem--whatever you want," Zexion said softly, offering his best friend a fond smile before be let him go.

The instant Demyx pulled away to hurry over to the platform at the sound of Tifa calling his name, Zexion longed for the luxury of Demyx's full body contact once more, but he controlled the desire, following the blonde to where he now stood by Tifa.

"Moral support," he stated simply in response to the curious glance Tifa sent his way as she fiddled with the height of the microphone stand. She nodded knowingly while she smoothed down her skirt—then, putting on her best hostess' smile, stepped up onto the stage, carrying the microphone stand.

The chatter and general hubbub of the café came to a sudden lull at the amplified sound of Tifa greeting her patrons warmly before politely requesting their attention.

Demyx paled slightly where he stood watching Tifa amiably inform the small crowd of tonight's particularly special entertainment from his place at the bottom of the two or three steps that led up to the platform.

"You'll do great, Demyx," Zexion said quietly, reaching out to squeeze Demyx's shoulder as Tifa motioned for Demyx to take his place on the stool placed center stage as the audience began clapping…

…and cheering. There was an uncanny amount of enthusiastic cheering.

Without warning, Demyx's hand shot out to touch Zexion's, his arm back at his side just as quickly.

"Break a leg, Dem," Zexion murmured, sending the blonde a true smile as he ushered him on.

Demyx paused only for the time necessary to return Zexion's smile with a beam of his own before joining Tifa onstage, grinning sheepishly at the abrupt wave of calls of delight that came with his appearance.

Tifa patted him dotingly on the back before making a quick exit, joining Zexion where they stood just out of sight.

Demyx's gaze wandered anxiously over the café's smiling patrons; his ocean eyes widening at the unexpected amount of familiar faces.

Tifa hadn't been kidding when she'd said she invited a few of her friends. In saying _her_ friends, she'd really meant _their_ friends.

There was Yuffie—it was difficult to miss her from where she was perched on top of a table cheering—accompanied by none other than the eldest Strife, hissing at Yuffie to sit down. Tifa had apparently picked up Marlene and Denzel at some point prior in the evening, for they had squeezed into the same chair next to Cloud, giggling at Yuffie as they clapped. Demyx got roped into babysitting the two of them on occasion, and they adored him no less than they did his stoic cousin.

Aerith, Zack and Leon sat at the next table over—Aerith beaming as she clapped politely beside her loudly cheering boyfriend. Leon even wore the ghosts of a smile as he applauded the mullhawked blonde.

He even spotted Lexeaus' looming figure in the middle of the crowd (he figured Zexion had slipped away unnoticed around lunchtime to inform the English teacher of tonight's performance), as well Luxord's platinum blond hair (Demyx could only hope Xigbar wouldn't turn around).

Speaking of which…

Demyx's shy grin widened as he noticed his group of friends cheering at the very front.

And so with one last grin sent back to where Zexion stood smiling beside a beaming Tifa, he strummed the first few chords of his acoustic before taking a breath and parting his lips to sing.

_There's no combination, no words I could put on the back of a postcard,_

_No song that I could sing, but I can try for your heart_

_Our dreams, and they are made out of real things_

_Like a, shoebox of photographs of sepia-toned lovin'…"_

Immediately the audience was enraptured by the sheer amount of _feeling_ that Demyx poured into his music. His heart and soul was going into his song-- that much was certain.

Zexion closed his eyes, letting Demyx's smooth voice wash over him and sweep away whatever tension remained.

The times that Demyx sang were one of the few times at which he felt completely at ease. Said blonde had quite the talent for affecting the schemer in ways that would undoubtedly prove impossible for anyone else.

Demyx truly was one of a kind.

Demyx's song came to a close all too soon for anyone's liking, and it was with a pleased flush that Demyx began a second song, looking as though he could hardly grasp the reality of the situation.

It was a full three songs later that Demyx stepped off of the stage, positively beaming as he flew into a grinning Zexion's open arms.

"You were wonderful, Demyx," Zexion murmured into Demyx's ear, unable to contain a happy sigh as he caught a whiff of the unmistakable scent of rain.

"Zexion, they actually liked me!" Demyx cried out happily, practically dancing over to where his guitar case lay beside the wall to return his beloved instrument (second in his heart only to his precious sitar) to its casing.

"Tifa, thank you _so much_!" Demyx exclaimed, hurrying over to hug the lovely woman tightly.

"Are you kidding me, Demyx? Thank _you_ for such a wonderful performance!" Tifa said happily, returning his hug before holding him at arms length.

"I know that I promised you that this could be a one time thing, but honestly Demyx--with a response like _that_ from the audience, you'd better not expect to worm your way out of performing here on a regular basis without repercussions," Tifa warned playfully.

"I'm sure that that won't be a problem," Zexion chuckled as Demyx's expression turned to one of mixed delight and terror at the prospect of future performances

They were quickly joined by the rest of their friends, who took turns hugging and congratulating the elated musician; Zexion immediately launching into some conversation with Lexeaus concerning some article in a recent science publication.

It took all of ten seconds for Xigbar and Luxord to notice the other's presence.

"Let's face it, dude. I'm hot, you're hot and we both know you've got a crush on me. And really, who can blame you with a gorgeous face like this. So, can I snatch a kiss or vice-versa?" Xigbar leered, placing a hand on his hip. Luxord raised an eyebrow at the daring man.

"And whatever gave you _that_ idea, you blighter?" Luxord asked silkily, tilting his head to the side coyly, aquamarine eyes at half-mast.

"I happen to be very knowledgeable about these sorts of things, you little minx. So let's just get drunk and take advantage of each other. Or, _I_ could get drunk and _you_ could just take advantage of me. _OR_, you can stay here and get drunk and I can go home and take advantage of myself. Either way, it's up to you," Xigbar said, a lazy grin spreading across his lips. Luxord looked extremely amused as he regarded the gunman with more than a little interest.

"I _had_ a feeling that you'd be quite the comedian the moment I laid eyes on you," Luxord smirked, slipping his arm into Xigbar's to lead them off to the aforementioned bar.

Axel watched the couple wander off from the group off dubiously.

"You're_ shitting _me," Axel muttered to Demyx, who merely let out a defeated sigh.

"You shoulda seen then in math class this morning," he replied dryly. Axel stared at him incredulously.

"Demyx, why the hell didn't you mention something about it before now?" Axel asked in disbelief, jade eyes narrowed in confusion.

"It…didn't seem all that important?" Demyx tried sheepishly, unable to stop himself from giggling at the look that crossed Axel's face.

"Never again, Dem, you hear? Don't keep juicy gossip to yourself, it's _rude_," Axel huffed, before his eyes softened as he continued to gaze at Demyx.

"C'mere, you," he demanded at last with a proud grin, reaching out to pull the musician into a tight hug.

"You were great," Axel said earnestly as he pulled away, grinning madly.

"Thanks Ax—I wouldn't have had the nerve to get up there in the first place if it hadn't been for you," Demyx laughed.

"See, Dem? I have your best interests at heart--you should thank me for tricking you into doing stuff more often," Axel teased, nudging his friend even as he rolled his eyes at the redhead's suggestion.

"Hey," Cloud greeted quietly as he approached his cousin.

"Cloud!" Demyx beamed as he embraced the senior Strife happily, earning an imperceptible smile.

"Everything going well for you?" Demyx asked, regarding the soft-spoken man curiously. Cloud merely shrugged and gave a slight nod, glancing over to where Marlene and Denzel had managed to cajole Zack and Yuffie into playing with them.

"I just wanted to stop by to lend you my support tonight. You did well," Cloud praised.

"Thanks Cloud," Demyx replied cheerfully.

"I've actually got to go for now, though. I promised Tifa I'd bring Marlene and Denzel back to her place by nine thirty. Goodnight, Demyx, Axel," Cloud waved, nodding at Axel in acknowledgement as he headed over to where Zack was tickling Denzel mercilessly, his attacks aided by Yuffie, while Aerith and Marlene giggled as they looked on.

"Damn, Demyx, I'm pretty sure that that was the most I've ever heard your Ice Queen of a cousin say at one time," Axel whistled, snorting in amusement when Demyx whacked him playfully in Cloud's defense.

"Yeah, well, that just means he'll always be _cooler_ than you can ever hope to be," Demyx shot back playfully, laughing when Axel raised a quizzical eyebrow.

"Get it? He's _cooler_ than you, 'cause, 'cause you called him an _Ice _Queen!" Demyx howled, tears of laughter springing to his eyes as he laughed himself silly at his own pun.

"Who called _who_ an Ice Queen?" a low voice cut in, Leon's attention caught both by Demyx's near-hysterical laughter as well as the miffed look that had crossed the pyromaniac's face.

"Well you of all people should know, Leon--Cloud being in _your_ grade, and all," Axel smirked knowingly.

**Hook…**

Leon blinked, his naturally aloof expression changing almost indiscernibly as his interest was raised—Axel appeared not to have noticed, for he just kept rambling on.

"I mean for _one_ thing, the guy's so soft spoken that I'd honestly thought he was mute until Demyx introduced us. As for the _queen_ bit…_well_…everyone knows about _that_," Axel trailed off tantalizingly with a shrug.

**Line…**

"Whatever it is, it's apparently kept a better secret than you thought. Axel, what are you talking about?" Leon asked grudgingly, albeit with genuine interest.

_**Sinker**_.

"What, so you're telling me that you actually haven't noticed the ridiculous number of fawning girls that follow Cloud around, yet he remains suspiciously oblivious to?" Axel asked in mock surprise.

Demyx had to admit, Axel was a _damn_ good actor when he wanted to be.

"…What are you getting at?" Leon asked, trying to sound indifferent.

"What am I getting at?" Axel repeated with a scoff. "Dude, there's nothing _to_ get at. I'm just reiterating that Cloud is one of, if not _the,_ most flamboyant queens I've ever met; hence the both endearing _and_ accurate nickname, Ice Queen."

Leon shook his head in mild amusement at the grinning redhead before he bid the two juniors good night, but not without congratulating Demyx on his wonderful performance that evening first.

The moment Leon exited through the front doors of the café, Demyx spun on Axel accusingly.

"You got in on Luxord's bet," he sighed exasperatedly (albeit with some amusement) not bothering to ask what he felt was already a reality. Axel shrugged but said nothing more on the subject, although he had the nerve to look rather pleased with how his and Leon's conversation had gone.

"What bet, yo?"

Axel turned around sharply in surprise at the familiar voice, only to find himself staring into nearly identical eyes—they would be, had they not been such a shocking shade of blue rather than green.

"Is it anything particularly interesting? You mentioned that Luxord started it—that means it's gotta be somethin' good," Reno persisted, chewing his bubble gum thoughtfully.

"Hiya, Reno! Is Rude here, too?" Demyx cut in curiously, glancing behind the older Turk as Reno gestured over his shoulder at a table where, sure enough, his best friend was sipping at some steaming beverage.

"What are you doing here?" Axel whined. Reno looked miffed, popping his gum loudly.

"Rude heard from Zack who heard from Yuffie who heard from Cloud who heard from Tifa that a _certain_ _buddy of yours_, brother-mine, was doing his debut solo performance here tonight, if you_ must_ know," Reno replied dryly.

"Y'know, the least you coulda done was _tell _me Dem was gonna be playing. I care 'bout the little musical prodigy, too," Reno sniffed, blue eyes narrowing at Axel's scoff.

"You sounded awesome, by the way," Reno said, turning to grin at a now-blushing Demyx. "Rude wanted me to tell you that he thought you were great, too."

Reno's attention switched back to Axel, and the grin that he'd offered Demyx disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared.

"So, lil' bro? How's about that bet you mentioned?"

"It's nothing that _you'd_ be interested in," Axel replied flippantly, crossing his arms as he stared his older brother down. Reno merely popped a large bubble in Axel's face.

An abrupt crash which was immediately followed by a raucous bout of drunken laughter made the two brothers jump (in Demyx's case, the poor blonde nearly fell over in his surprise) and turn to send questioning glances to the bar.

"Yo, isn't that Luxord right o'er there?" Reno asked, eyebrows jumping so high that they very nearly vanished into his hairline. Beside him, the color of Demyx's face matched his vibrant strands.

"…You mean the blonde being molested on that table? Uh, yeah, I think it is...hey, Reno, why don't you go ask him about that little wager he has going on right now for yourself?" Axel snickered.

"I probably would, if it weren't so obvious that he and whoever that is on top of him were a little occupied at the moment—wait a sec, is that _Xigbar?_" Reno gaped, unable to tear his eyes away.

"Yeah, that's Xigbar," Axel coughed as a jacket—he was pretty sure it was Luxord's—went flying.

"_Damn_," Reno whistled, turning to glance at Demyx when the sitarist let out a groan of embarrassment.

"What'sa matter? You never seen two people doin' that before?" Reno snickered at the horrified look Demyx threw his way.

"Fuck, I'm not even sure _I've_ ever seen someone twist like that before," Axel said, squinting at the two as he cocked his head. "Dude, I didn't even know it was _possible_ to bend at that angle."

Reno nudged the blonde, who by this point had resorted to covering his eyes.

"Chill out, kid. Tifa broke 'em up," Reno with only the _slightest_ hint of disappointment.

"He's not exaggerating either… _shit, _that girl can throw hard," Axel muttered as twin crashes on opposite sides of the restaurant sounded.

Demyx peered out between his fingers timidly, blue eyes darting about nervously. He only let his hands fall back down to his sides once he had caught glimpses of the two on either sides of the café.

"Aw, c'mon Tif, watcha go 'n do that fer? It took meh five drinkshs just ta get 'im to looshen' up," Xigbar slurred unhappily, glaring up blearily at the busty woman.

"If you _really_ want to have your way with him, Xigbar, I'd appreciate it if you'd at the very least get a room. Far, far away. From. My. _Restaurant_," Tifa said sweetly, even as she yanked him up by his ponytail; letting go of his hair to grab his wrist, dragging the protesting man over to where she'd thrown Luxord.

"And from Xigbar I could expect this, but you _too_, Luxord?" Tifa sighed, offering a hand to the disgruntled blonde Englishman seated by the wall.

"Tha bloody basta went an' jumped meh— 't wasn' _mah_ fault," a flushed Luxord insisted, grabbing Tifa's hand as he clumsily tried to smooth out his shirt with the other, gazing up sultrily at the leering gunman.

"Yer absol…absotul…yer a real characta, y'know that?" Luxord stammered drunkenly, stumbling over to the salt-and-pepper haired man.

"Wherez yer place?" Xigbar mumbled into Luxord's ear, nipping the lobe affectionately as if it were an afterthought. Luxord shivered.

"I haf a room on campush, buh 's close ta a buncha other teachas'--"

"'s yer classroom closer?" Xigbar interrupted impatiently. Luxord had to mull this comparison over in his mind for a good ten seconds before he nodded.

"Then fuck the bedroom—y'eva haf sex on a desk 'afore?" Xigbar grinned impishly.

"Xigbar, ya _dog_, yer completleh off yer rocker_,_" Luxord groaned, yet the way his face lit up at the idea said otherwise.

"You boys have fun—and remember safe sex!" Tifa chirped, ushering them through the front doors, Xigbar yelling back something that sounded suspiciously like "safe sex 's fer _door_ _hinges!_" in response.

No one really got it, but they weren't exactly sure they wanted to anyway.

"…Right. Well, not that this conversation isn't particularly _thrilling_, but alas—I must go and join Rude," Reno sighed, his point only backed up with a deadpan demand of "Reno, get your punk ass over here."

Said Turk saluted the two juniors before swaggering off to sit with his companion.

"Awright," Axel demanded loudly, making the remaining juniors and freshmen jump as they turned to look at him questioningly.

Axel smirked.

"So…who's up for some Truth-or-Dare back at the dorms?"

**XXXXXXXXX**

Jessie: Yeah, so I wrote everything minus the section with Roxas' P.O.V and last 218 words of this chapter while I was on vacation.

Joh: See how much she loves you guys?

Jessie: That's right! Though I must admit, I enjoyed every minute of it.** Beams**

Joh: Yeah…kay, I'm done now.

Jessie: Uh, me too, actually. But just so you guys know, I'm _**really**_ busy at the moment… I just felt bad that I hadn't updated this yet, so I felt that I should just post the last chapter I had pre-written (this one), so sorry if updating takes a bit longer. I _have_ started on the next chapter, mind you! _**AND**_I updated _both_ of my KH multi chapter stories, cuz I love you people so much. So before we wrap up, response time!

Kaoru Gal: Yes, dearest. The start of the chapter was Riku; I'd expect YOU of all people to catch onto that notion quickest. And don't worry—I don't harbor any doubts whatsoever as to your undying love for him. I'm still amazed that you love my writing…I love YOURS! Your updates are always what I look forward the most to. Love ya sis!

Mitsuru Aki: I'm sooo glad you consider this one of your favorites stories--thank you for that! I kinda felt (read: still feel) utterly terrible about having Naminé related to both Larxene and Seifer, but hey—the resemblance between the three was too good an opportunity to pass up, y'know? I'd LOVE to read Nami's doujin as well…I just hope it's in the style of drawing you see in the intro to KHII rather than her drawings on the walls of her room. Please, lemme finish that last line; K-I-S-S-I-N-G! I hope you continue to enjoy this story!

Kiki Lelsissia: Well I'm certainly glad you had the patience to review despite your apparent reviewage troubles. But yes, from what I've heard, the game will be coming out soon—I'm _uber_ excited! And darling, Joh's favorite pairing of all time is RikuxSora; and apparently, that makes JoshuaxNeku a favorite pairing by default. Yeah, I know it. I've learned the hard way many, many times that you MUST resist Sora's puppy-eyes. I believe that's how I finally learned how to say _**NO**_ to my sis. And yes; using hair color to determine family relations makes life SO much easier.

I'm glad I'm being clear enough with the relations… and I'm so thrilled you like the story! I love hearing from you, darling!

Demon's sinner: Aww—thank you so much for your lovely review! And—you fell out of your _chair_ laughing? Gosh, I thought that was only me, and I never really expected to have someone topple off their seat over _my_ writing! Thanks! I'm, uh, honored..? Though I hope you were okay, dear! And good luck joining in the betting poor; it seems as though things are turning in your favor, no? Thank you for your review!

Ossifrage: Dude…if I had Saix as a teacher, I'd end up DEAD. But I _do_ share your precise sentiments! And I'm glad you find Demyx lovable; I do as well. I rather enjoy writing him. Hope you continue to enjoy the story!

_**Please Review**_

Feelin' Groovy © Simon & Garfunkle

Better Together © Jack Johnson


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